William to help decide on Diana fund
by Nigel Rosser
Trustees of the Princess Diana memorial fund are to begin consultations with Prince William and Prince Harry to see whether they want it to continue.
They will also speak to Prince Charles and the Government over the future of the controversial fund after Diana's brother Earl Spencer publicly called for it to be wound up. The trustees are particularly keen to get the views of Prince William, touted as a possible head of the fund when he is 18.
Charles is said to be angry at claims that he supports the dissolution of the fund and feels he is being used as a pawn in the debate about its future. But the impetus for an end to the multi-million pound fund-raising body appears to be growing, fuelled partly by public concern over the sale of Diana scratchcards and tubs of margarine bearing her name.
Earl Spencer and several members of Diana's family feel the fund has mushroomed far beyond its original purpose and descended into occasionally tacky exploitation of her name.
Tony Blair is said to sympathise with the Earl's view. Members of the fund say it is simply trying to raise money in good causes and hinted that Earl Spencer was just trying to protect his own interests at Althorp where he is building a Diana museum.
Paul Burrell, Diana's ex-bodyguard who is employed as the £50,000-a-year chief fund-raiser for the trustees, said: "The fund was set up because the people of the world wanted it. Now is certainly not the time to end it." In an attempt to head off claims of a rift within Diana's family, her mother Frances Shand Kydd and Earl Spencer have told trustees they will both fully support the fund and its president, Lady Sarah McCorquodale, Diana's sister for as long as it remains active.
© Associated Newspapers Ltd., 27 April 1998