Princess Diana was concerned about where the Prince of Wales was while they were apart, a former royal butler has claimed.
In tonight’s episode of ITV’s The Diana Interview: Revenge Of A Princess, Paul Burrell, who was a butler for the Prince and Princess of Wales, alleged that Prince Charles lived a different lifestyle when they weren’t together at Highgrove in Gloucestershire.
He said Princess Diana, who was mainly staying at Kensington Palace, would call him throughout the week asking where Prince Charles was, however he advised her to speak to her then-husband herself.
‘Every weekend Princess Diana and the children would spend the weekend at Highgrove. But during the week I was the butler for the Prince of Wales at Highgrove. Now there were two very different lives at Highgrove – one a family unit and a single man’s life in the week,’ said Paul.
Former royal butler Paul Burrell (pictured) claimed Princess Diana asked him about Prince Charles’ whereabouts while he stayed at Highgrove in a new ITV documentary
Princess Diana and Prince Charles (pictured) increasingly spent time apart after the birth of Prince Harry, with Diana staying mainly at Kensington Palace
‘The Princess would ring me up during the week and say ‘where’s Prince Charles?’ and I’d say ‘I can’t really say, you’ll have to ask him’.’
When asked where the Prince was, Paul claimed ‘he was out seeing Camilla Parker Bowels. He’d say ‘well I’m feeling awfully tired tonight. I think i’ll take an early night, I’ll have my dinner at 7 instead of 8’.
‘So I’d set up the dinner table and he’d eat alone, he’d light the fire and have his dressing gown on and watch the television – but as soon as I cleared the dinner the car was roaring down the drive.’
According one insider, Princess Diana was being lied to by everyone ‘from the police to the courtiers to the chef, to the valets to the footmen who all knew and subscribed to Princess Charles’s undercover relationship with Camilla Parker Bowles but told Diana a separate story.
‘People have said ‘oh she was paranoid’ but she had every right be paranoid because she was being consistently lied to, not just for 20 minutes here or there but for ten years.’
The insiders in the two-part documentary also claimed Diana’s frustration with a ‘loveless marriage’ led to her own affair.
The Prince of Wales told Princess Diana ‘he didn’t love her the night before their wedding’, the late royal’s astrologer also claimed in the episode.
Paul Burell (pictured) claims he advised Prince Charles would live a ‘single life’ and spend time with Camilla during the week
Astrologer Penny Thornton, whom the Princess of Wales began to consult in 1986, explained that Prince Charles made the remarks before their big day in 1981 because he didn’t ‘want to go into their marriage on a false premise’.
ITV’s new documentary focuses on the inside story of Princess Diana’s 1995 interview with Mr Bashir that shocked the nation, and in the process threatened the future of the monarchy and of the BBC.
Marking 25 years since Britain tuned in to watch Diana pour her heart out on national television as she spoke about infidelity with James Hewitt, the two episodes hear from those who witnessed her fairytale romance with Prince Charles descend into bitterness and ultimately divorce.
Penny revealed: ‘One of the most shocking things that Diana told me was that the night before the wedding Charles told her that he didn’t love her…
‘I think Charles didn’t want to go into the wedding on a false premise. He wanted to square it with her and it was devastating for Diana.
‘She didn’t want to go through with the wedding at that point, she thought about not attending the wedding.’
James Colthurst, the Irish-born medical professional who was a close friend of Diana’s when she worked as a nanny in London before marrying Prince Charles, also appeared on the programme.
The Prince of Wales told Princess Diana (pictured on their wedding day in 1981) ‘he didn’t love her the night before their wedding’, the late royal’s astrologer has claimed
He said: ‘I remember she was becoming more and more incensed by what was going on and the fact that the whole organisation, as she saw it, was helping to support the relationship between Camilla and Prince Charles.
‘She would have moments of extreme anger and wanting to bash the mattress with the tennis racquet and that kind of thing, and I said, “Well, I think there are ways of lancing the abscess.”’
Elsewhere in the documentary, royal journalist Jennie Bond revealed that Diana later told her she had a fear she would be prevented from talking as part of any divorce settlement.
Recalling why the princess decided to talk openly about her marriage problems, Jennie said: ‘Diana told me she feared that as part of the divorce settlement she felt was coming she would be gagged.
Astrologer Penny Thornton, whom the Princess of Wales began to consult in 1986, explained that Prince Charles made the remarks before their big day in 1981 because he didn’t ‘want to go into their marriage on a false premise’. Pictured, Prince Charles and Princess Diana in 1992
‘She would be prohibited from talking publicly about the marriage in any way. It was then or never.’
Prince Charles and the late Princess Diana’s divorce was officially finalised on 24 August 1996, after a very public fall out.
The remarks made on the ITV programme come after the BBC revealed it will hold a full independent investigation into how it secured the Princess Diana interview aired on Panorama in 1995.
The broadcaster confirmed that an external probe would examine how journalist Mr Bashir landed the famous chat with the princess.
The announcement comes after Diana’s brother Earl Charles Spencer accused the journalist of using ‘dirty tactics’, including producing fake documents, to win the trust of her family.
Tim Davie, the corporation’s director general, said: ‘The BBC is taking this very seriously and we want to get to the truth. We are in the process of commissioning a robust and independent investigation.’
The BBC has said it will hold a full independent investigation into how it secured the bombshell Princess Diana interview aired on Panorama in 1995
The BBC boss confirmed the terms of the investigation would be announced in the coming days.
Diana’s brother, Earl Spencer, criticised the BBC, saying he was shown ‘false bank statements’ by Mr Bashir to help him gain access to the princess.
The documents related to alleged payments made to two members of the royal household by the security services for information about the princess, the earl claims.
He previously called for an independent inquiry and tweeted that the corporation was ‘incapable of honestly facing up to the ugly truth of this matter’.
The BBC’s announcement of an independent probe today follows weeks of campaigning from Earl Spencer.
He claims Bashir repeatedly deceived him in order to gain access to the royal as her marriage to Prince Charles collapsed.
The subsequent interview made headlines around the world as millions of viewers watched her say ‘there are three of us in this marriage’.
Her comments about the state of her marriage sent shockwaves through the monarchy and turbo-charged Bashir’s career, as he won praise for a major journalistic scoop.
The BBC has said Bashir is currently unable to answer questions as he is currently signed off work by his doctors.
It said the journalist, who currently works as the BBC’s religion editor, is recovering from quadruple heart bypass surgery in addition to having ‘significant complications’ after contracting Covid-19 earlier in the year.