Can one never have too much money?
If you’re Paul Burrell, the answer must be no, because 20 years after Princess Diana’s death, the former royal butler is a surprise addition to I’m A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here, where he lost no time blabbing more of the late princess’ secrets.
Burrell, who made his fortune with a series of tell-all books and interviews about his time with Diana, made a series of eyebrow-raising claims in an exclusive interview with News Corp before entering the South African jungle to compete on the hit Channel 10 show as a ‘intruder’ designed to upset the status quo of the existing competitors.
It’s his second time on I’m A Celebrity, having competed in the UK version 14 years ago. But he’s always got some royal ‘secrets’ up his sleeve to spill, and some of these ones beggared belief.
Burrell told News Corp that he can still “get a message” to Queen Elizabeth, despite being largely a persona no grata to the royal family after betraying Diana’s trust with a series of revelations following her death. He also implied that he was still in touch with Princes William and Harry, saying he “has communications” with Diana’s family.
Even more strangely, he appeared to imply that Diana’s ex-husband, Prince Charles, was somehow implicated in her death.
“[Diana] wrote a letter to me in her own hand writing on her own stationary and that letter read, ‘I fear I am going to be killed by my husband in order that he can remarry. I am going to have an car accident, head injuries, I am going to die’,” Burrell claimed in the interview with News Corp, adding that he keeps the letter in a bank because of its “national importance”.
Despite the claims, the former butler claimed he was not going to air any of the palace’s dirty laundry.
“That is not my style,” he said. “I am still loyal and true and Princess Diana’s colours are nailed to my mast for the rest of my life.”
It’s unlikely to be a claim William and Harry would agree with, given that they were widely reported to be devastated after the formerly trusted confidant of the princess. In contrast to his comments to News Corp ahead of entering the jungle, Burrell told Sunrise last year that Diana’s sons had not spoken to him since her death in 1997.
The princes blasted Burrell after he released a book called A Royal Duty in 2003, saying that their mother would have been mortified by the public airing of her secrets.
“If we may say so, we feel we are more able to speak for our mother than Paul. We ask Paul please to bring these revelations to an end,” they said at the time.