Jan 14, 2008 7:15 am US/Pacific
Butler: No Sign Diana Was To Remarry
LONDON (AP) ―
Princess Diana gave no indication that she intended to marry Dodi
Fayed and made no arrangements to announce an engagement before she
died, her butler testified Monday at a coroner's inquest.
Paul Burrell, Diana's butler and confidant for a decade, said that
if an announcement had been planned — as Fayed's father claims — he
believes Diana would have put arrangements in place.
"I think she would have cleared the decks and made space, certainly in the week preceding the announcement," he told the court.
Burrell described Diana's romance with Fayed as a "30-day
relationship," saying she was still recovering from the end of a secret
two-year relationship with heart surgeon Hasnat Khan. In an interview
published in British newspapers Sunday, Khan declined to discuss the
reasons for the end of his relationship with Diana.
"The princess had just finished a long-term relationship with
someone she cared deeply about," Burrell said. "I know that, because I
was there. I saw it."
Burrell described Diana as being "on the rebound from that
relationship when she met someone who was very kind and attentive and
generous."
Burrell has previously disputed claims by Fayed's father, Mohamed Al
Fayed, that Diana was pregnant with Fayed's child and that the couple
were on the brink of announcing their engagement when they died in
Paris on Aug. 31, 1997.
"I want another marriage like I want a bad rash," Burrell has quoted
Diana as saying in a telephone conversation when she was with Fayed in
France.
Diana's friend Annabel Goldsmith, who testified earlier, also reported Diana comparing marriage to an unwanted rash.
Al Fayed has also claimed that his son and Diana were the targets of
a conspiracy directed by Prince Philip, the husband of Queen Elizabeth
II.
Burrell said he had seen correspondence between Diana and Prince
Philip in 1992, when efforts were being made to save her marriage to
Prince Charles.
Diana's friend, self-described "energy healer" Simone Simmons,
testified last week that she had seen two letters from Prince Philip
that were "derogatory" and cruel, and which had upset the princess.
"Yes, they were sharp," Burrell said of the letters he saw. "Prince
Philip doesn't mince his words, he says it as it is, but he is not a
nasty man."
He added that Diana "didn't particularly like sometimes what she was told, but Prince Philip was always frank."
"The princess fired off equally as robust words to Prince Philip," Burrell said.
Burrell has said that after Diana's death the queen had warned him
to be careful and told him, "There are powers at work in this country
of which we have no knowledge."
He testified that he was unsure whether she referred to the media, the "establishment," or the secret services.
"One doesn't ask the queen what she means by something," Burrell said.
"I just think it was a general 'be careful' warning over many issues."
In 2003, Burrell disclosed a note, believed to have been written by the
princess in 1995 or 1996, expressing her fear of being killed.
"I am sitting here at my desk today in October, longing for
someone to hug me and encourage me to keep strong and hold my head
high. This particular phase in my life is the most dangerous. My
husband is planning `an accident' in my car, brake failure and serious
head injury in order to make the path clear for Charles to marry...,"
the note said.
The note went on to claim that Charles wanted to marry Tiggy
Legg-Bourke, his sons' nanny. In 2005, Charles married Camilla Parker
Bowles, the woman Diana had publicly blamed for undermining her
marriage to Charles.
(© 2008 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
