Princess Diana couldn't trust very many people in her life. Her husband was cheating on her, the monarchy was oppressive, and vultures surrounded her waiting to sell salacious stories to the press. So instead she reportedly turned to her staff. Diana's former butler Paul Burrell claims that he was one of the princess' closest confidantes when he worked for her. But although he may have kept her secrets when she was alive, he's seemingly spilled them all in the decades since her death.
Over the years, Paul has made lots of shocking claims about Diana, revealing everything from the other men she loved to how she allegedly felt about Prince Charles and more. We wonder what Lady Di would think about her supposed trusted aide making the interview rounds and writing books using her personal stories.
Here are some of the former butler's boldest claims.
Charles' Treatment of Diana
When the new season of The Crown came out and depicted the tense marriage between Charles and Diana, Paul was quick to claim that the portrayal was spot-on. "Josh O'Connor plays Prince Charles as a rather uncaring, cold person. And I'm afraid that's what I saw behind closed doors," the former royal servant told the Sun. He added that he wished the show had gone further.
"I would have put in another scene with Charles telling Diana — after she comes downstairs wearing a beautiful black and white dress just to please him — 'You look like you belong to the mafia.'"
Diana Allegedly Feared for Her Life
One of Paul's most controversial claims is that Diana feared for her life. On the I'm a Celebrity … Get Me Out of Here! reality show, Paul alleged that Diana had written a letter on the topic. "Her words were, 'These next few months are the most difficult months of my life. I fear my husband is going to kill me. In an automobile accident with head injuries. In order that he can remarry.'"
But Diana's Brazilian friend Lucia Flecha de Lima had disputed that claim. "Paul Burrell was perfectly capable of imitating Princess Diana's handwriting. I don't believe she was fearing for her life, especially from Prince Charles, the future king of your country," she said.
For what it's worth, Paul also said he could never see Charles harming her.
Charles' Reaction to Harry's Birth
While on I'm a Celebrity … Get Me Out Here! Paul also accused the prince of a particularly cold moment following Harry's birth.
"She told me on the night that Harry was born, Charles came to visit. He wasn't at the birth. Harry is lying in the cot, and he said, 'Red hair, I suppose that's a Spencer gene,'" Paul claimed. "She said, 'Are you pleased, Charles?' He said, 'I'm delighted. I now have an heir and a spare.'"
According to Paul, Diana knew their marriage was over at that point.
Diana Snuck Boyfriends Into the Palace
The former butler helped Diana bring her lovers to Kensington Palace in secret, by driving a car with them in the trunk or hidden under a blanket, according to the Daily Mail. Paul would then intentionally not tell security about who was with him so there was no visitor record. He really would do anything for Diana.
The Princess' Prescriptions
Per the Daily Mail, Paul revealed that Diana had difficulty sleeping and was prescribed sleeping pills for the issue. But the butler said prescriptions were never written in Diana's own name — especially her birth control. Instead, different female staff members' names would be used.
She Would Help Sex Workers
The Daily Mail also reported that Paul claimed Lady Di would help women working the street if she saw them. "She would give them money, especially when it was cold and wet, and tell them to go home. I saw her give [50-pound] notes on condition they went home and stopped working. She bought them clothes from Marks & Spencer," the butler said.
She Wanted To Marry Hasnat Khan
Diana dated heart surgeon Hasnat Khan for fewer than two years before their split, but Paul has claimed that Diana never wanted the breakup. In fact, she considered Hasnat her "soulmate" and begged him to marry her. Diana even reportedly asked Paul to help find a priest to officiate.
She Regretted Her "Panorama" Interview
Diana shared a lot about her personal life in her controversial 1995 Panorama interview, but Paul claimed that she only regretted one part. "She said to me, 'I did have one regret with the interview — I did regret speaking about James Hewitt.'"
James was one of the men Diana had an affair with, and Paul claimed she was upset that Harry and William would hear her speak on the topic.
Her Eating Disorder
It's a fact that Diana struggled with bulimia; she admitted as much in her Panorama interview. Paul has since added that he aided Diana when she would have those urges.
"I'd get the chef to prepare a gallon of custard and I'd buy yogurts and lots of bananas. And I'd prepare the room for her to make sure she was comfortable. Make sure there was a pile of towels. I was doing my duty. I would have done anything for Diana," he said.
How Diana Helped Her Grieving Friend
Another shocking claim from Paul was when he said Diana helped bury a friend's stillborn baby in the Kensington Palace gardens. "What I witnessed was the ultimate act of compassion and friendship, which I think reflects greatly on the boss and sums up her humanity. Acts of kindness don't get much bigger than this," he wrote in his tell-all The Way We Were: Remembering Diana.
William Wanted To Reinstate His Mother's Title
Diana was stripped of her royal title when she and Charles got divorced, but Paul has claimed that teenage William vowed to correct that when he became the reigning monarch. Paul recalled William reportedly saying, "Don't worry, Mummy. I will give it back to you one day when I am king."
Diana Wanted To Move to America
Paul said that before Diana's death, she'd reportedly been planning to make a big move to the US. She specifically wanted to live in Malibu in California — not unlike the move Harry and wife Meghan Markle made. "She said, 'This is our new life, just won't it be great, think of the lifestyle the boys [would have]. Nobody's judgmental here in America, you don't have the class system, you don't have the establishment,'" Paul claimed.
She Would Have Clashed With Meghan
No one will ever know what Diana would have thought of William and Harry's wives, but Paul claimed that she would have struggled with Meghan. "I think, possibly, they would have clashed," he said. "I imagine it would have been two strong, independent women with different views on things. It would have been a battle between Meghan's way and Diana's way."
But She Would Have Supported #Megxit
Regardless of Diana's potential feelings about Meghan, Paul told Inside Edition that she would have been in full support of Harry and Meghan's decision to step back from royal life. She would have known firsthand the pressures of such a life, and Paul said she 100% would have supported the couple.
She'd Be Upset About Her Sons' Rift
Paul is probably not wrong to assume Diana wouldn't be pleased that her sons have been fighting. After Harry and Meghan's March 2021 sitdown with Oprah Winfrey, the former butler told Inside Edition, "Diana would also be very upset at the fact that this interview has now opened up a chasm between William and Harry."
Diana's Last Words to Paul
The butler didn't accompany Diana on her fateful trip to Paris in 1997, so he last spoke to her before her departure. He claims her final words to him were filled with a tinge of unhappiness and depression. "You will be there when I get back, won't you?" she asked Paul. Of course, she never came back.
