Harry says Diana’s ex-butler ‘made my blood boil’ by releasing ‘tell-all book’
The Duke of Sussex’ memoir Spare, which was leaked and also went on sale early in Spain, has now been officially released.
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.The Duke of Sussex has condemned Diana, Princess of Wales’ former butler for releasing a book that made a series of private revelations about his mother.
In his controversial memoir Spare, Harry said Paul Burrell was “milking” Diana’s death for money when he penned A Royal Duty in 2003, adding that it “made my blood boil”.
Mr Burrell, who the duke does not name in the autobiography, drew criticism from the royal family at the time when he released the book about his former boss Diana.
A statement issued by the brothers from Clarence House accused Mr Burrell of “a cold and overt betrayal”.
In response, Mr Burrell welcomed the suggestion of meeting with the princes to justify his book and tell them about parts of their mother’s life they had not witnessed, adding: “I’d love to give them a piece of my mind.”
In his memoir Spare, Harry describes how he learned of the book when he was working as an unpaid farmhand in Australia aged 19 in 2003 after leaving Eton.
He writes that he received a package from Buckingham Palace, which was full of memos from the Palace communications team about “a delicate matter”.
“Mummy’s former butler had penned a tell-all which actually told nothing,” he said.
“It was merely one man’s self-justifying, self-centring version of events.
“My mother once called this butler a dear friend, trusted him implicitly. We did too. Now this.
“He was milking her disappearance for money. It made my blood boil.”
Harry writes that he wanted to fly home to “confront” Mr Burrell but Charles and William talked him out of it, saying all they could do was “issue a united condemnation”.
The duke also claims that he had “nothing to do with the drafting” of the Clarence House statement and that he would have “gone much further”.
On a meeting with Mr Burrell, Harry wrote: “He wanted to give us a piece of his mind?”
Harry said he “anxiously” waited for the meeting but it never happened, writing: “I didn’t know why; I presume the Palace quashed it. I told myself: Shame.
“I thought of that man as the one errant steer that got away that summer.”
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.