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Diana's Former Butler Thrilled Charges Dropped

Aired November 01, 2002 - 13:17   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN ANCHOR: Princess Diana's former butler, Paul Burrell, says that he is thrilled that theft charges against him have been dropped. Why wouldn't he be? It's all thanks to the queen. Prosecutors say they learned Burrell told her he kept some of Diana's possession for safe keeping.
Robin Curnow joins us now live from London to explain the latest twist in the case.

Robin, I guess it helps to have the queen on your side.

ROBIN CURNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's not often that a royal servant gets to say this queen came through for me today. That's what Paul Burrell said in court this morning after he heard that the charges against him had been dropped.

It was, indeed, the queen who saved the butler's bacon. She actually said that she had had a conversation with him just weeks after princess Diana's tragic death in 1997. She said eventually after all these years, that the prosecution has been investigating this, that she had a conversation with Burrell and this proved that he was allowed to have some of the possessions. The prosecution has been saying all along that he had no legal reason to have these possessions at his house. The queen, however, is the one that said he had said to her he had taken them for safe keeping.

The question is, as I said, why now, two years into the investigation, two weeks into the trial, why now does the queen -- the British monarch come out with information.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT JOBSON, ROYAL COMMENTATOR: The queen did what any citizen of the queen would do. If somebody finds information relevant to a trial, which is so important, it's a job of every citizen to pass that information on to the authorities so the jury is not misled. No embarrassment on behalf of the prosecution. They didn't do anything wrong. The queen didn't know. The Prince of Wales didn't know about this conversation. The police didn't find out. Series of mistakes all around. I don't think a conspiracy. Very fortunate it's come out now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CURNOW: Was this just a bungled police investigation or was it the monarchy meddling? That's the question the British media are asking. There's speculation rife in the media that this is a case of the queen protecting royal privacy, closely guarded secrets and intimate details about the way the royals conducted their business, the way they interacted with each other, even what Diana wore to go to -- wore to sleep at night. She liked apparently going to sleep in her night shirt with a cartoon character on front. It's that sort of detail that was becoming a little bit from what many people thought too close for comfort for the monarchy. So there are some people who are suggesting that perhaps the queen needed to put pay to some of this information, particularly because Paul Burrell was going to take the stand this week.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOBSON: It's been two years in investigation, and the reality is, she should have come forward sooner with the information. Indeed, people could argue that Scotland Yard should have gone to her and asked this question. But, really, this is quite a dramatic twist, and something that I think would be -- cause reverberations for the next couple of weeks, months, years even.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CURNOW: Absolutely. Reverberations across British culture, across the media. People are really talking about this. Diana has always been a media icon in this country, obviously across the world. And the details that were coming out through this trial were fascinating tabloid fodder, indeed, that's now been put paid by this spectacular intervention by Buckingham Palace. The queen, however, I must say, Buckingham Palace has said via certain channels that the queen had no intention of interfering in the trial, and it was the prosecution's decision to collapse the trial today. But whatever comes out of this trial in the next few weeks, it's another absolutely dramatic and sensational aspect to the life and times of Princess Diana.

SAVIDGE: No doubt about it, Robin. That's obviously a butler who is going to say "long live the queen."

Thank you very much, reporting live from London.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com






Aired November 1, 2002 - 13:17   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN ANCHOR: Princess Diana's former butler, Paul Burrell, says that he is thrilled that theft charges against him have been dropped. Why wouldn't he be? It's all thanks to the queen. Prosecutors say they learned Burrell told her he kept some of Diana's possession for safe keeping.
Robin Curnow joins us now live from London to explain the latest twist in the case.

Robin, I guess it helps to have the queen on your side.

ROBIN CURNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's not often that a royal servant gets to say this queen came through for me today. That's what Paul Burrell said in court this morning after he heard that the charges against him had been dropped.

It was, indeed, the queen who saved the butler's bacon. She actually said that she had had a conversation with him just weeks after princess Diana's tragic death in 1997. She said eventually after all these years, that the prosecution has been investigating this, that she had a conversation with Burrell and this proved that he was allowed to have some of the possessions. The prosecution has been saying all along that he had no legal reason to have these possessions at his house. The queen, however, is the one that said he had said to her he had taken them for safe keeping.

The question is, as I said, why now, two years into the investigation, two weeks into the trial, why now does the queen -- the British monarch come out with information.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT JOBSON, ROYAL COMMENTATOR: The queen did what any citizen of the queen would do. If somebody finds information relevant to a trial, which is so important, it's a job of every citizen to pass that information on to the authorities so the jury is not misled. No embarrassment on behalf of the prosecution. They didn't do anything wrong. The queen didn't know. The Prince of Wales didn't know about this conversation. The police didn't find out. Series of mistakes all around. I don't think a conspiracy. Very fortunate it's come out now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CURNOW: Was this just a bungled police investigation or was it the monarchy meddling? That's the question the British media are asking. There's speculation rife in the media that this is a case of the queen protecting royal privacy, closely guarded secrets and intimate details about the way the royals conducted their business, the way they interacted with each other, even what Diana wore to go to -- wore to sleep at night. She liked apparently going to sleep in her night shirt with a cartoon character on front. It's that sort of detail that was becoming a little bit from what many people thought too close for comfort for the monarchy. So there are some people who are suggesting that perhaps the queen needed to put pay to some of this information, particularly because Paul Burrell was going to take the stand this week.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOBSON: It's been two years in investigation, and the reality is, she should have come forward sooner with the information. Indeed, people could argue that Scotland Yard should have gone to her and asked this question. But, really, this is quite a dramatic twist, and something that I think would be -- cause reverberations for the next couple of weeks, months, years even.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CURNOW: Absolutely. Reverberations across British culture, across the media. People are really talking about this. Diana has always been a media icon in this country, obviously across the world. And the details that were coming out through this trial were fascinating tabloid fodder, indeed, that's now been put paid by this spectacular intervention by Buckingham Palace. The queen, however, I must say, Buckingham Palace has said via certain channels that the queen had no intention of interfering in the trial, and it was the prosecution's decision to collapse the trial today. But whatever comes out of this trial in the next few weeks, it's another absolutely dramatic and sensational aspect to the life and times of Princess Diana.

SAVIDGE: No doubt about it, Robin. That's obviously a butler who is going to say "long live the queen."

Thank you very much, reporting live from London.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com