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American Morning

Palace Intrigue

Aired November 06, 2002 - 09:48   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.


PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: The Britons are furious this morning after Diana's Butler reveals some secrets about the country's royals. Paul Burrell, fresh from being cleared of stealing items that belonged to Diana, sold his story to a tabloid, and the papers are on the street. How is Buckingham Palace reacting to the news? For that, let's turn to a veteran royal watcher, Ingrid Stewart, editor in chief of "Majesty" magazine.
She joins us from London. Good to see you, Ingrid.

So what is in the papers today? What is the most revealing thing that has been leaked here?

INGRID STEWART, "MAJESTY" MAGAZINE: Well, obviously the paper that bought Burrell's story have got the best things in it. Burrell reports about his conversation with the queen in great detail, and says that the queen warned him that there were dark forces that neither he or her understood out there, and he had to be very careful. I mean, it sounds quite bizarre, and that's what everybody is talking about here today.

ZAHN: Now when you talk about dark forces, does that take on a threatening tone?

STEWART: No, I personally think what she was referring to, remember, they had this conversation two months after Diana had died, and I think what she was referring to was the enemies of Muhammad Al- Fayed, and I think she was worried that Burrell may get caught up in the situation surrounding Al-Fayed. I think that's what she was referring to.

ZAHN: Now there's another story being reported in your tabloids, relating to Dodi Al-Fayed, where Diana reportedly told Burrell that she thought he had a cocaine problem.

STEWART: That's correct. That was also in one of the newspapers, and Burrell has said it now. So I presume that that story will be followed up as well. I mean, everything is coming up, and Burrell set himself in a middle of a circulation war, and I would guess by the weekend, they'll be out to destroy Burrell as well.

ZAHN: Let's talk about what else he's said, that he helped smuggle lovers into Kensington Palace. Is that being reported in any legitimate newspaper today?

STEWART: I mean, we had heard that story before. He used to go and collect Diana's lovers, and smuggle them into Kensington Palace in the back of a car, with a blanket over them, then he'd drive them to a door through a courtyard where there were no security cameras so they couldn't be seen. So that's reported. It's also reported how she loved the heart surgeon, Hazmit Khan (ph), and how she once dressed up in a fur coat and some jewelry and nothing else when she was going to meet him. I mean it's all great fodder for us, but it's really unamusing for the royal family and for Princes William and Harry.

ZAHN: Isn't this what the queen wanted to avoid by getting involved in the case at the point in which she did, to not allow testimony from Paul Burrell.

STEWART: Well, this is exactly what everyone had hoped to avoid. But once Burrell was released, he was going to take his vengeance and earn some money, and he's singing like a canary, and there's nothing anyone can do to stop him.

ZAHN: So how would you analyze this? You're saying by the week's end maybe that everybody will be out to get him. He's now looking like a -- is he looking clean here at all?

STEWART: No. He -- when the case ended last Friday, he had the high ground. He had the moral high ground, but now that he's sold his story, people are starting to criticize him. As the week goes on, I'm absolutely certain that two of the major papers that didn't get his story, they have a lot of information on him. He is not all squeaky clean either, and I'm sure they'll be out there to get him and destroy his reputation.

ZAHN: So what is the reaction coming from the royal family. So many details are the details they thought they were protecting themselves against.

STEWART: Well, there's nothing the royal family can actually do, except wish this had never, ever happened, that they'd perhaps intervened earlier, but by that time, it had probably gone too far. There's nothing they can do really but sit back and let it happen and know in a couple of weeks time, something else will have happened to take everyone else's mind off this. It's just a long time since we've had a story like this. So everyone is really making hay of it.

ZAHN: Now there's another story making circulation that Paul Burrell was given permission by the queen to leak some of this information to the press. Is there any truth to that?

STEWART: I find that very hard to believe. I don't think -- the queen really doesn't make any comment.

During her meet with Burrell, which is said to have lasted three hours, she said very little, and made no comment, because that's her way. Especially with someone that had once worked for her like Burrell. She'd be very careful about what she said. So I don't think she really wanted to get involved in this at all.

ZAHN: And, of course, no one could predict what was going to be precipitated by the press getting ahold of this 39-page document, where Paul Burrell is interviewed by the police. Well, thank you for shedding some light on that this morning, Ingrid Stewart.

STEWART: I hope I've shed enough light. It's very confusing, that's all I can say.

ZAHN: I think you have, from one person's point of view here. Thank you.

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 6, 2002 - 09:48   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: The Britons are furious this morning after Diana's Butler reveals some secrets about the country's royals. Paul Burrell, fresh from being cleared of stealing items that belonged to Diana, sold his story to a tabloid, and the papers are on the street. How is Buckingham Palace reacting to the news? For that, let's turn to a veteran royal watcher, Ingrid Stewart, editor in chief of "Majesty" magazine.
She joins us from London. Good to see you, Ingrid.

So what is in the papers today? What is the most revealing thing that has been leaked here?

INGRID STEWART, "MAJESTY" MAGAZINE: Well, obviously the paper that bought Burrell's story have got the best things in it. Burrell reports about his conversation with the queen in great detail, and says that the queen warned him that there were dark forces that neither he or her understood out there, and he had to be very careful. I mean, it sounds quite bizarre, and that's what everybody is talking about here today.

ZAHN: Now when you talk about dark forces, does that take on a threatening tone?

STEWART: No, I personally think what she was referring to, remember, they had this conversation two months after Diana had died, and I think what she was referring to was the enemies of Muhammad Al- Fayed, and I think she was worried that Burrell may get caught up in the situation surrounding Al-Fayed. I think that's what she was referring to.

ZAHN: Now there's another story being reported in your tabloids, relating to Dodi Al-Fayed, where Diana reportedly told Burrell that she thought he had a cocaine problem.

STEWART: That's correct. That was also in one of the newspapers, and Burrell has said it now. So I presume that that story will be followed up as well. I mean, everything is coming up, and Burrell set himself in a middle of a circulation war, and I would guess by the weekend, they'll be out to destroy Burrell as well.

ZAHN: Let's talk about what else he's said, that he helped smuggle lovers into Kensington Palace. Is that being reported in any legitimate newspaper today?

STEWART: I mean, we had heard that story before. He used to go and collect Diana's lovers, and smuggle them into Kensington Palace in the back of a car, with a blanket over them, then he'd drive them to a door through a courtyard where there were no security cameras so they couldn't be seen. So that's reported. It's also reported how she loved the heart surgeon, Hazmit Khan (ph), and how she once dressed up in a fur coat and some jewelry and nothing else when she was going to meet him. I mean it's all great fodder for us, but it's really unamusing for the royal family and for Princes William and Harry.

ZAHN: Isn't this what the queen wanted to avoid by getting involved in the case at the point in which she did, to not allow testimony from Paul Burrell.

STEWART: Well, this is exactly what everyone had hoped to avoid. But once Burrell was released, he was going to take his vengeance and earn some money, and he's singing like a canary, and there's nothing anyone can do to stop him.

ZAHN: So how would you analyze this? You're saying by the week's end maybe that everybody will be out to get him. He's now looking like a -- is he looking clean here at all?

STEWART: No. He -- when the case ended last Friday, he had the high ground. He had the moral high ground, but now that he's sold his story, people are starting to criticize him. As the week goes on, I'm absolutely certain that two of the major papers that didn't get his story, they have a lot of information on him. He is not all squeaky clean either, and I'm sure they'll be out there to get him and destroy his reputation.

ZAHN: So what is the reaction coming from the royal family. So many details are the details they thought they were protecting themselves against.

STEWART: Well, there's nothing the royal family can actually do, except wish this had never, ever happened, that they'd perhaps intervened earlier, but by that time, it had probably gone too far. There's nothing they can do really but sit back and let it happen and know in a couple of weeks time, something else will have happened to take everyone else's mind off this. It's just a long time since we've had a story like this. So everyone is really making hay of it.

ZAHN: Now there's another story making circulation that Paul Burrell was given permission by the queen to leak some of this information to the press. Is there any truth to that?

STEWART: I find that very hard to believe. I don't think -- the queen really doesn't make any comment.

During her meet with Burrell, which is said to have lasted three hours, she said very little, and made no comment, because that's her way. Especially with someone that had once worked for her like Burrell. She'd be very careful about what she said. So I don't think she really wanted to get involved in this at all.

ZAHN: And, of course, no one could predict what was going to be precipitated by the press getting ahold of this 39-page document, where Paul Burrell is interviewed by the police. Well, thank you for shedding some light on that this morning, Ingrid Stewart.

STEWART: I hope I've shed enough light. It's very confusing, that's all I can say.

ZAHN: I think you have, from one person's point of view here. Thank you.

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