Exclusive: Princess Diana's Former Butler Says He Struggled to Keep Diana and Charles's “Two Worlds Apart” During Camilla Affair
Paul Burrell tells 'Marie Claire' that he found it "very difficult" to hide things from Diana while working at Highgrove House.
Paul Burrell’s royal career ended when Princess Diana died in 1997, but the former palace butler originally worked as a footman to Queen Elizabeth before moving to Highgrove House in 1987. King Charles’s country retreat was a welcome escape for the then-Prince of Wales, but as Burrell tells Marie Claire, life in Gloucestershire became increasingly “difficult” as Charles and Diana led separate lives.
Burrell, speaking on behalf of Champions Speakers Agency, said Camilla would visit Prince Charles during the week, when Princess Diana, Prince Harry and Prince William were in London.
“Now, I was finding my job very difficult by this time because I realized that my duties were to be split between my princess and her boys at the weekend and Charles and his friend during the week,” Burrell says. “So it was difficult to keep those two worlds apart.”
Charles and Diana carry their boys during a photo shoot at Highgrove in 1986.
When Diana came to stay at Highgrove, Burrell says he would join the family for “lovely outings to Alton Towers, to Bristol Zoo” and events like birthday parties. “William would drive his replica Aston Martin car down to our house to give my boys a ride around the estate,” he shares, describing his relationship with them as “kind of one big family.”
However, tensions between the prince and princess made working at Highgrove less “fun” for the butler. He describes one incident when Diana called “late at night” asking to speak to Prince Charles.
“I said, ‘I'm sorry, Your Royal Highness, he's not in,’” Burrell recalls. After Diana asked where her husband was, the butler said he wasn’t sure.
“She said, ‘You do know, Paul, because you know where he is 24-7. So either you're not telling me or you're lying for him,’” Burrell says, sharing that he asked her to not “drag” him into the situation.
Charles and Diana are pictured with Prince Harry in July 1986.
The family poses for a photo at Highgrove House.
“This was long before you knew there were troubles,” he says of Diana and Charles's marriage, sharing that the call put him in a tough spot because his “whole world” depended on his job.
After Diana called Charles the next morning, the now-King called Burrell in to speak with him. The former butler claims that Charles was livid, asking, “But why couldn't you lie? Why couldn't you say that you couldn't find me? Why couldn't you say I'd gone for a walk at 11 o'clock at night?”
After telling his boss that it wasn’t his “job to tell lies,” Charles allegedly showed off his “legendary temper” and “picked up a book and threw it” at the butler.
Following Charles and Diana’s separation in 1992, Burrell relocated to Kensington Palace to live with Diana and the boys, with Burrell sharing that the princess “rescued” him from the uncomfortable situation at Highgrove House.
“I thought, my time's up. My time is up. Diana rescued me,” he says.
