When a name returns to the headlines, the echo quickly travels through the most protected halls of the United Kingdom. This time, tension has once again settled in the upper circles. What is about to happen generates both anticipation and nervousness in equal measure.
This is not the first time this has happened, but everything suggests that now, it could be different. There are names that, just by saying them, send a chill down the spines of members of the British royal family. Paul Burrell, former butler to Lady Di, is one of them and is back in the media spotlight with something that might leave no one indifferent.
Old betrayals and new confessions
For decades, Paul Burrell has been an uncomfortable figure for the British royal house. Now, with The Royal Insider ready to be published, he claims he will reveal secrets he did not dare to share while Elizabeth II was alive. Burrell was much more than a butler to Diana; she trusted him with worries, emotions, and personal confidences.
He was a silent witness to many of her most intimate wounds. However, that loyalty was broken, at least for the princess's sons. After publishing his previous book, A Royal Duty, William and Harry accused him of "cold and open betrayal," and those wounds never healed.
In his book Spare Harry described Burrell as someone who "exploited his mother's disappearance to make money." His disappointment was reflected in harsh words that still resonate. "My mother once called this butler a dear friend and trusted him completely, so did we."
A Burrell biography that reopens tensions
According to the British press, in this new work Burrell will speak openly about the breakup between Charles and Diana. He also promises to reveal details about his relationship with William and Harry. "I felt I couldn't share certain things while the queen was alive," he explained.
With this newly acquired freedom, his memoirs are once again causing a stir at Buckingham. On the cover of the book, he appears alongside Diana. Many interpret this gesture as a symbol of closeness, but others see it as yet another provocation to a family that rejects him.
Paul Burrell: a shadow that doesn't disappear
Burrell was also at the center of a legal scandal after Lady Di's death. He was accused of having stolen more than 300 items from her residence in Kensington. In 2001, he was arrested after hundreds of the princess's belongings were found in his home.
The police found everything from porcelain to personal notes addressed to William for school. Inside the rooms, there were also photographs and letters signed by the princess, paintings, and even clothes that Diana had worn on her trips. The case included 310 items valued at millions of euros.
Burrell denied having stolen anything, claiming that Diana had given him everything while she was alive. He was eventually acquitted of all charges, although that episode reinforced the Windsors' distrust. Tensions with the royal family never fully dissipated, and now, with his new book, those wounds are reopening.