Diana Inquest: Burrell Accused of 'Lying' Over Dodi Ring
Written by Joanne Leyland
Wednesday, 16 January 2008
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Paul Burrell has admitted to the High Court that he
deliberately stayed quiet about a ring Diana, Princess of Wales
received from her boyfriend, Dodi Fayed.
Giving evidence for the third successive day at the inquest into the
deaths of the couple, Burrell also said he believes Diana's
relationship with Dodi had "peaked" days before the crash and that the princess was feeling increasingly "claustrophobic" and weary of the way Dodi was controlling her every move.
The admission about the ring came as Burrell was accused by Mohamed Al Fayed’s legal team of "lying"
about Diana's receipt of this ring in his first book, A Royal Duty.
In this book, published in 2003, Burrell wrote of a conversation he had with the princess in the summer of 1997: "We never had another conversation
about a ring or whether one was actually produced."
In this book, the former royal aide revealed how he advised the princess to
wear any ring given by Dodi on her right hand, rather than the fourth finger of
her left, so as to give a clear signal that this was a friendship rather than
engagement ring.
In his second book, The Way We Were, Burrell finally revealed that Diana had
received a ring from Dodi.
The ring was amongst the princess’s possessions which
her butler retrieved from the Paris hospital following Diana’s death in the early hours of 31st
August 1997.
Condemning as "strong" Michael Mansfield QC’s use of the word "lying", Burrell
told the inquest on his third successive day in court: "The reason I didn’t
include it in A Royal Duty was that I didn’t feel I had to at the time."
Cross-examined as to why he chose to reveal details of the ring in his second book, which was
released in 2006, Burrell said he acted because of ongoing speculation and
claims from the Fayed camp that Diana and Dodi were engaged.
Explained Burrell: "So much was being said about the Princess I only had to dispel the...myth."
