THE faithful butler and confidant of Diana, Princess of Wales, was
arrested yesterday by Scotland Yard detectives investigating the
alleged theft of a £500,000 wedding present from royal
apartments.
Detectives raided Paul Burrell’s Chester home early yesterday and
spent 12 hours searching the building. They seized a number of
items, arrested Mr Burrell, 42, and took him to a nearby police
station. He will be questioned today.
Yard sources said last night that police are investigating the theft of
a £500,000 silver and gold model of a boat, encrusted in
diamonds, that was given to the Prince and Princess of Wales by a
Middle Eastern potentate.
The boat was discovered on sale in a Chelsea antique shop last
autumn and two people have already been arrested over its
disappearance from the Princess’s home.
Officers from a team in the Yard’s organised crime group, which
investigates high-profile crime, are also investigating the alleged
theft of clothes belonging to the Princess.
A police spokesman said: “The arrest follows the receipt of
information after the discovery of an artefact allegedly stolen from
a location in Central London.”
Mr Burrell’s home was raided just before dawn yesterday as he
and his wife Maria and their two teenage sons were asleep.
Police with search warrants launched the operation with the help
of local officers. Married with two sons, Mr Burrell rose from
lowly beginnings as a lorry driver’s son born into a mining
community in the North to become one of the Princess’s closest
staff. She referred to him as her “rock” and left him £50,000 in her
will.
Mr Burrell, who was woken at 2am to be told of the Paris crash
that killed the Princess and her friend Dodi Fayed in 1997, was
devastated by her death and was extensively involved in the
funeral arrangements.
He also played a leading role in the trust set up in her memory.
He went on to cash in on his old job by asking £3,500 for
after-dinner speeches about his life with the Royal Family — he
had served the Queen, the Duke of Edinburgh and the Prince of
Wales as well as Diana.
But he presented himself as the keeper of the Princess’s secrets
and promised: “I’ll never betray her trust.”
~*~
Princess Margaret to leave
hospital(Evening Standard)
Princess Margaret is to leave hospital this Saturday,
Buckingham Palace has announced.
The Queen's younger sister,
who has been receiving
treatment at the private King
Edward VII hospital following
a suspected stroke, will return
to her Kensington Palace
home after making "good
progress".
Buckingham Palace said in a
statement: "Princess Margaret
has made good progress and
will be leaving hospital this
Saturday afternoon, returning home to Kensington Palace.
"She plans to return to Sandringham on Monday.
"Nursing care will be available to her at Sandringham so
she can continue with rest and recuperation."
The Princess, 70, suffered a severe loss of appetite after
she had a suspected second stroke just before Christmas
at Sandringham, the Queen's Norfolk estate.
She was admitted to hospital last Wednesday and has
received visits from her children, Viscount Linley and Lady
Sarah Chatto, her nephew, the Prince of Wales, and Lady
Glenconner, her lady-in-waiting.