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CNN Saturday Morning News
Talk with Queen Elizabeth Biographers Gerald Strober and Deborah Hart Strober
Aired November 02, 2002 - 08:35 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.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: As he left court in London, Princess Diana's butler said the queen has come through for me. As you can see, the morning's headlines scream: "The Butler Didn't Do It!" Paul Burrell was on trial, accused of stealing belongings from the late Princess Diana, Prince Charles and their son William. But now Queen Elizabeth is taking some heat for not stepping in prior to the costly trial and informing authorities Burrell told her he was keeping some of Diana's belongings for safekeeping.
Joining us now from New York are well known biographer Gerald Strober and Deborah Hart Strober.
Thanks so much for being here, both of you.
We appreciate it.
DEBORAH HART STROBER, ELIZABETH II BIOGRAPHER: It's good to be here.
COLLINS: Let's go ahead and begin. If you could just set up for us what has happened here. This was some very surprising news.
Gerald, why don't you tell us what your take was on how all this came out?
GERALD STROBER, ELIZABETH II BIOGRAPHER: Well, my take is that the queen did not come through for herself. If she knew about this beforehand, knew the charges against the butler and did not say anything, then the question is why didn't she step forward and absolve him? If she didn't know, she plays into the hands of all of those critics over the years, especially since Diana's death, who maintain that the palace and the queen are out of touch with reality.
After all, the case was brought by the Crown. She is the person wearing that crown.
COLLINS: Does it say anything about the relationship between the queen and Princess Diana to you?
GERALD STROBER: Oh, very much so. I think that Diana will continue to be the bane of this queen's life so long as she reigns. And there will always be that question of Diana lurking in the background. This is one more interesting example of that phenomenon.
COLLINS: And, Deborah, let me ask you, what has the feeling kind of been amongst people in London about this? Was there sympathy for Mr. Burrell?
DEBORAH HART STROBER: I think there was tremendous sympathy because he was close to Diana. He was her rock. People still love Diana. They either love her or hate her, and there are so many who still love her and they remember how he came to Paris and took care of her in death in those immediate hours after her death. And they wanted him to be absolved in this case.
COLLINS: And what about Diana's mother? I know that she took the stand and you mentioned that Paul Burrell was Diana's rock. But I know that Diana's mother said that everybody was her rock.
DEBORAH HART STROBER: Yes, well, obviously the two women had a very, very bad relationship and they even reportedly found some unopened letters. Her mother was trying for a reconciliation. They hadn't talked in four months before her death. So, you know, she had her own agenda here.
COLLINS: Can either one of you tell us what will happen now with these items that Mr. Burrell had or still has and what exactly they are? I know there's some pictures. What else are we talking about here?
GERALD STROBER: There...
DEBORAH HART STROBER: There are correspondence, clothing, a lot of items which -- and one of the things that intrigues me is why they had to be removed from Kensington Palace. Did the butler think that they would fall into some evil hands who could tarnish Diana's image further, because there was an attempt to tarnish her image at the expense, you know, to build up the Crown in the days after her death?
COLLINS: So that is, we're talking about correspondence. We're talking about pictures. What else here now? And, again, what do you think will happen with these items at this point?
GERALD STROBER: Well, there may be some personal items, some clothing and other, perhaps, gifts that were given to the princess and the prince at some point. They probably will be turned over to the prince. But the real question here is the fascinating dance that's been going on. Here's a man who has been very discreet, although he knows that the one person who can absolve him is standing in the background, not wanting to do it until the last moment.
At the same time, his lawyer is telling the media and the world that if he goes on the witness stand, he's going to be telling some very interesting details of the life at Kensington Palace.
The queen was really in a no win game and actually she has not won this one.
COLLINS: And what about Paul Burrell and his reputation? Do you think he is scared? Will life be OK for him now that this has come out?
DEBORAH HART STROBER: There will still be that thing of was it incorrectly apparently mooded about that he was photographed dancing around in one of Diana's gowns. I think, though, the overall impact is that he protected the queen. He did not -- there is a question of whether he would have fallen on his salver for her if, indeed, he had been forced to testify or whether he would have gone, you know, gone to prison or whether he would have told all to avoid that seven year sentence.
COLLINS: And that we will never know.
All right, well, Gerald Strober and Deborah Hart Strober, joining us from New York this morning, we do appreciate it.
Thanks.
GERALD STROBER: Thank you.
DEBORAH HART STROBER: 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
Deborah Hart Strober>
Aired November 2, 2002 - 08:35 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: As he left court in London, Princess Diana's butler said the queen has come through for me. As you can see, the morning's headlines scream: "The Butler Didn't Do It!" Paul Burrell was on trial, accused of stealing belongings from the late Princess Diana, Prince Charles and their son William. But now Queen Elizabeth is taking some heat for not stepping in prior to the costly trial and informing authorities Burrell told her he was keeping some of Diana's belongings for safekeeping.
Joining us now from New York are well known biographer Gerald Strober and Deborah Hart Strober.
Thanks so much for being here, both of you.
We appreciate it.
DEBORAH HART STROBER, ELIZABETH II BIOGRAPHER: It's good to be here.
COLLINS: Let's go ahead and begin. If you could just set up for us what has happened here. This was some very surprising news.
Gerald, why don't you tell us what your take was on how all this came out?
GERALD STROBER, ELIZABETH II BIOGRAPHER: Well, my take is that the queen did not come through for herself. If she knew about this beforehand, knew the charges against the butler and did not say anything, then the question is why didn't she step forward and absolve him? If she didn't know, she plays into the hands of all of those critics over the years, especially since Diana's death, who maintain that the palace and the queen are out of touch with reality.
After all, the case was brought by the Crown. She is the person wearing that crown.
COLLINS: Does it say anything about the relationship between the queen and Princess Diana to you?
GERALD STROBER: Oh, very much so. I think that Diana will continue to be the bane of this queen's life so long as she reigns. And there will always be that question of Diana lurking in the background. This is one more interesting example of that phenomenon.
COLLINS: And, Deborah, let me ask you, what has the feeling kind of been amongst people in London about this? Was there sympathy for Mr. Burrell?
DEBORAH HART STROBER: I think there was tremendous sympathy because he was close to Diana. He was her rock. People still love Diana. They either love her or hate her, and there are so many who still love her and they remember how he came to Paris and took care of her in death in those immediate hours after her death. And they wanted him to be absolved in this case.
COLLINS: And what about Diana's mother? I know that she took the stand and you mentioned that Paul Burrell was Diana's rock. But I know that Diana's mother said that everybody was her rock.
DEBORAH HART STROBER: Yes, well, obviously the two women had a very, very bad relationship and they even reportedly found some unopened letters. Her mother was trying for a reconciliation. They hadn't talked in four months before her death. So, you know, she had her own agenda here.
COLLINS: Can either one of you tell us what will happen now with these items that Mr. Burrell had or still has and what exactly they are? I know there's some pictures. What else are we talking about here?
GERALD STROBER: There...
DEBORAH HART STROBER: There are correspondence, clothing, a lot of items which -- and one of the things that intrigues me is why they had to be removed from Kensington Palace. Did the butler think that they would fall into some evil hands who could tarnish Diana's image further, because there was an attempt to tarnish her image at the expense, you know, to build up the Crown in the days after her death?
COLLINS: So that is, we're talking about correspondence. We're talking about pictures. What else here now? And, again, what do you think will happen with these items at this point?
GERALD STROBER: Well, there may be some personal items, some clothing and other, perhaps, gifts that were given to the princess and the prince at some point. They probably will be turned over to the prince. But the real question here is the fascinating dance that's been going on. Here's a man who has been very discreet, although he knows that the one person who can absolve him is standing in the background, not wanting to do it until the last moment.
At the same time, his lawyer is telling the media and the world that if he goes on the witness stand, he's going to be telling some very interesting details of the life at Kensington Palace.
The queen was really in a no win game and actually she has not won this one.
COLLINS: And what about Paul Burrell and his reputation? Do you think he is scared? Will life be OK for him now that this has come out?
DEBORAH HART STROBER: There will still be that thing of was it incorrectly apparently mooded about that he was photographed dancing around in one of Diana's gowns. I think, though, the overall impact is that he protected the queen. He did not -- there is a question of whether he would have fallen on his salver for her if, indeed, he had been forced to testify or whether he would have gone, you know, gone to prison or whether he would have told all to avoid that seven year sentence.
COLLINS: And that we will never know.
All right, well, Gerald Strober and Deborah Hart Strober, joining us from New York this morning, we do appreciate it.
Thanks.
GERALD STROBER: Thank you.
DEBORAH HART STROBER: 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
Deborah Hart Strober>
