Princess Diana told biographer Andrew Morton how being at Balmoral Castle was her "worst time," yet King Charles—who has always been passionate about summering in Scotland—seems to thrive there. While discussing Charles and Diana's differing approaches to the summer break, Diana's former butler, Paul Burrell, tells Marie Claire that the late royal "found it very hard" to find her place at Balmoral.
"Diana tried to please Charles, so her times at Balmoral were to please him," Burrell, speaking on behalf of Casino.org, shares. "She wanted to fit in, she wanted to be loved, she wanted to be accepted, and that was all part of that acceptance. "
However, the former butler notes that her approach came at "a cost because the royals, they're a very difficult lot at times, and they're all individual personalities, all huge egos, all bouncing around in the same place." While Diana "tried to make friends and come to terms with" life at the Royal Family's Scottish retreat, Burrell says, "I think from day one, she realized that that place was so full of ghosts from the past that she could never fit in as a modern woman. She could never fit into that archaic world."
Diana and Charles visited Balmoral ahead of their 1981 wedding.
The former butler, who worked for both Diana and Queen Elizabeth during his royal career, shares that the late princess wasn't a fan of many of the Royal Family's Scottish traditions—citing one hunting ritual that Princess Kate reportedly has refused to let her children take part in today.
"I mean, going onto the hillside and killing a majestic beast, for instance, stalking, and then being smeared with its blood and having to come back to the castle blooded for the first time. She thought that was like something from a Victorian novel," Burrell recalls. "She didn't consider it to be part of this world. And so, Diana considered Balmoral to be stuck in the past, in a world that didn't exist anymore, and she wasn't that person."
Princess Diana, who was a passionate campaigner for charities, felt that life at Balmoral was out of touch with the issues she faced on a daily basis, he continues. "She lived in the real world," Burrell says. "She lived in a world with homelessness, HIV and AIDS, and landmines. They didn't fit into the walls of Balmoral Castle."
Princess Diana and Prince Charles stayed at Balmoral during part of their honeymoon.
In addition to the family's hunting obsession, Burrell says that visiting Balmoral "is structured around routines" that "have never changed since Queen Victoria's time."
"Breakfast is at nine o’clock. If you're down at 10, you've missed it," he explains. "Lunch is at 1 o’clock, you've got to be there. Tea is at five o'clock. You had to be there for a cup of tea. Dinner is at 8:15. Woe betide if you come downstairs dressed in the wrong thing, at the wrong time, for the wrong event, it's very, very formal."
For Diana, who thrived on modernity, it was a "suffocating" environment. Burrell notes that "she could never understand why it wasn't more relaxed and informal."
"She was suddenly living in a Victorian court, and Diana wanted to live in the real world," he continues. "She wanted to come down for dinner in jeans."
Princess Diana is seen with Prince Harry and Prince William at Balmoral in August 1987.
"People from this world don't fit into that world. And that's why that world will change and is changing," Burrell says. When asked who will be sparking that shift, the former butler points to the Prince of Wales.
"William is a catalyst for change," Burrell says. "He's already planning it now. When I see him on the TV, I see his mind working and thinking, 'Oh, when I'm King, this is not going to happen.'"
As other royal sources have stated when discussing the Prince of Wales and his future role, Burrell points out that some of the "pomp and pageantry and excess will not happen when William is King," noting, "He will be the people's King."
