Prince William feels guilty over Burrell trial

Prince William feels guilty and believes he has let down Paul Burrell, the former butler to his mother, the late Diana Princess of Wales. Mr Burrell was taken before the courts and tried for the theft of papers and other items that had belonged to Diana. The trial dramatically collapsed on 1st November 2002 following an unprecedented intervention by Queen Elizabeth and Mr Burrell was acquitted.

William desperately wanted Mr Burrell prosecuted after police briefed him about the theft allegations facing his mother's former butler. William even branded him Paul The Betrayer.

But after Mr Burrell's acquittal, William realised his view was "poisoned" by what the officers told him. He is desperately hoping he can make his peace with Princess Diana's loyal servant.

A royal aide said: "He feels a degree of guilt. He feels he let Burrell down. He is hurt at the moment."

It is now known that Prince Charles was always against Mr Burrell being taken to court - and urged that the case be dropped.

William had always liked and trusted Mr Burrell, but his attitude changed dramatically after a meeting with police on 3rd August 2001.

Three senior Scotland Yard police officers drove to Highgrove to talk to Prince Charles and his sons about the investigation into the alleged theft of Princess Diana's property.

They wrongly claimed that Mr Burrell had been selling property then belonging to Diana's estate. They also said - again incorrectly - that there was a photo of him posing in Diana's clothes. Believing this, William was shocked.

William was also angered to learn that among hundreds of items seized at Mr Burrell's home were pictures of him with supermodels including Claudia Schiffer and Naomi Campbell. William believed the photos had been sent on to the models. He did not know that Diana had decided against sending the pictures after news of her son's meeting with the girls at Kensington Palace had leaked out.

Diana had handed the photos to Mr Burrell instead and told him to "get rid of them".

The butler threw them in a box and forgot about them until police found the pictures in the attic of his house in Farndon, Cheshire. But the police convinced William that Mr Burrell - the man her mother called "my rock" - had taken treasured personal items to which he was not entitled.

At the time, William was vulnerable to suggestions that his mother was being betrayed by her former staff.

Her private secretary Patrick Jephson had already made £2 million from his book, Shadows of a Princess, which painted an unflattering picture of Diana. An insider said: "William turned against Burrell dramatically after his meeting with the officers.

"They poisoned his view of the butler. After that he referred to him as Paul The Betrayer.

"They wrongly convinced him that he had been up to no good. For him, it was just another example of one of his mother's trusted aides walking all over her memory to make money. He wanted it to stop and thought the prosecution of Paul would be a good way to do it.

"Now he is racked with remorse. He realises he was mistaken to back the prosecution against Paul so zealously.

"But he was sick and tired of the idea that people he and his mother once trusted were exploiting them."

In contrast to William's stance, his father had tried for over a year to stop Mr Burrell's prosecution. Prince Charles was never convinced of the servant's guilt and was worried the police were seeking a "trophy conviction".

In September 2002 Charles's private secretary Sir Michael Peat had a meeting with police and Diana's eldest sister Lady Sarah McCorquodale to say the case should not go ahead. But according to royal insiders, Charles's lawyer Fiona Shackleton had come to believe it was right to prosecute Mr Burrell.

She thought it was what William wanted. Charles, who has run up a legal bill of over £150,000, remained opposed but the case went ahead.

He was furious when it emerged in court that he had been "grossly misled" at the Highgrove meeting with police. The police had never gone back to Prince Charles or his sons to correct their allegations. The case collapsed when it emerged that the Queen remembered Mr Burrell speaking to her about looking after Diana's belongings. A source close to Charles said: "The royals, and William in particular, will renew their contact with Paul Burrell.

"Charles was never fully convinced the case should go ahead. When he heard of the Queen's meeting with Burrell he leapt on it."