Former royal butler Paul Burrell, who was in news for revealing royal secrets, will now entertain ice-skating fans as the contestant of Dancing On Ice reality show. Burrell, who was Princess Diana's butler, will compete with Katie Prince, Candice Brown and Anthony Cotton among others in the reality show.
But who is Paul Burrell? Here are 7 things to know about the former royal butler:
Paul Burrell former British Royal Household servant
When he was 18, he worked as a Buckingham Palace footman. His visit to Buckingham Palace during his childhood days inspired him to work at the royal palace. A year later, he was appointed as Queen Elizabeth's personal footman. Later, he worked as Princess of Wales' butler until her death in August 1997.
Diana's "Rock"
Burrell was described as Diana's "rock" and the only person she trusted. He became good friends with Diana after working as her butler for 10 years. After her death, he released tell-all books about Diana.
His first marriage, gifts he received from Queen and his second marriage
Burrell got married to Maria Cosgrove, who used to work as a maid for Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, in 1984 in a traditional white wedding. Queen and Prince presented the couple a pair of monogrammed Coalport candlesticks as their wedding gift and also a telegram that read, "Wishing you every possible happiness for the future, Elizabeth and Philip."
Burrell and Maria have two sons Alexander and Nicholas. The couple got divorced last year, but issued a statement saying that they remain "best of friends."
On April 3, 2017, he married boyfriend Graham Cooper in the Lake District.
He was arrested in 2001 on charges of stealing royal items
In 2001, Burrell was arrested over claims that he stole Diana's possessions, including CDs, LPs, photo albums, and designer clothes. The trial collapsed after the Queen intervened. He later moved to the US after the case was closed.
Paul Burrell reveals about James Hewitt
Burrell dismissed the rumours that Diana's lover James Hewitt is Prince Harry's father. He said that all these speculations were made up. "It's something that's been made up. It was just because Harry had red hair, but all the Spencers have red hair. If it ever did come up, Diana just laughed because it is farcical," he told The Mirror.
"Now, for Harry's sake, everyone should put it to rest. He must be sick of it."
Books about Diana
Burrell wrote books about Diana in which he revealed about her life and secret affairs. In 2003, he released a book A Royal Duty in which he revealed about Diana's divorce from Prince Charles and her secret nine boyfriends.
In his second book, The Way We Were, he opened up about Diana's thoughts about Dodi Al Fayed.
Diana's letter to Paul Burrell
In his book, A Royal Duty, Burrell also published a handwritten letter by Diana to him in October 1996. In her letter, she claimed, "This particular phase in my life is the most dangerous - my husband is planning 'an accident' in my car, brake failure and serious head injury in order to make the path clear for him to marry Tiggy. Camilla is nothing but a decoy, so we are all being used by the man in every sense of the word."
