By IANS
London : Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II had warned the late Princess Diana’s butler about mysterious “powers at work”, the former butler told an inquest into her death.
Paul Burrell told the London inquest Monday that he had sought a meeting with the Queen to tell her that Diana’s mother, Frances Shand Kydd, had shredded some of the Princess’s personal documents.
Shand Kydd, according to Burrell, spent several days at Diana’s Kensington Palace residence, going through her belongings and shredding dozens of documents. He said he was worried those documents might be of “historical importance”, such as letters from members of the royal family.
His meeting with the Queen took place at Buckingham Palace Dec 19, 1997, less than four months after Diana’s death, and lasted for at least an hour and a half.
Burrell said the Queen told him during the meeting: “Be careful, Paul. No one has been as close to a member of my family as you have.
“There are powers at work in this country of which we have no knowledge. Do you understand?”
The former butler said he had no idea who the Queen was referring to and did not think it polite to ask her.
“One does not ask the Queen what she means by something,” he said but added that she may have meant the media, the establishment or the security services.
“I think it was just a general ‘be careful’ warning over many issues. The Queen is a good, kind and devout lady. She looks after members of staff who look after her. I thought she was just looking after me.”
He told the inquest that a member of the royal family had warned Diana: “You need to be discreet, even in your own home, because they are listening to you all of the time.”
Burrell wrote down the name of the mystery royal on a piece of paper and handed it to the coroner, who did not disclose it to the public.
The meeting that Burrell spoke about was responsible for the butler being acquitted at a trial six years ago in which he stood accused of stealing more than 300 items belonging to Diana and other members of the royalty.
The case collapsed sensationally after the Queen intervened on behalf of Burrell. He used to be her footman before becoming Diana’s butler.
Half way through the hearing, Elizabeth II suddenly remembered crucial details of their 1997 meeting – and revealed that Burrell told her that he was taking papers for safe keeping.