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| Sunday, 26 October 2003 |
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Sons of Princess Diana accuse ex-butler of betrayal LONDON, Saturday (AFP) The two sons of Britain's Princess Diana launched an unprecedented attack on her former butler Friday, accusing him of the "cold and overt betrayal" of their mother in his new book. Princes William, 21, and Harry, 19, said that Diana, who died in a 1997 car crash in Paris, would have been mortified at a string of revelations this week by her ex-butler Paul Burrell. William, the grandson of Britain's Queen Elizabeth II, speaking on behalf of himself and his brother, appealed to Burrell to end his revelations. In a statement, unprecedented in its strength of feeling, William said: "We cannot believe that Paul, who was entrusted with so much, could abuse his position in such a cold and overt betrayal. "It is not only deeply painful for the two of us but also for everyone else affected, and it would mortify our mother if she were alive today and, if we might 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." Burrell, who worked closely with the princess and said she called him her "rock", released a series of claims in the Daily Mirror tabloid from his forthcoming book about his time as Diana's butler. The Mirror reported that Diana wrote a letter 10 months before she died in a crash claiming there was a plot to kill her by tampering with the brakes of her car. She reportedly wrote to Burrell that someone "is planning 'an accident' in my car, brake failure and serious head injury in order to make the path clear for (Prince) Charles (the heir to the throne) to marry" again. The revelations reignited conspiracy theories surrounding her death. But Burrell refused to apologise for his new book and said he was saddened by the princes' statement. He said his book, "A Royal Duty", was "nothing more than a tribute" to Diana and he was extremely proud of it. |
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