Diana’s butler Paul Burrell nearly burst into tears over Prince Harry’s allegations

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Paul Burrell was perhaps one of the best known members of Diana’s staff. Photo/Getty Images

Princess Diana’s former butler Paul Burrell has revealed he broke down in tears after Prince Harry slammed him for milking his mother’s death for money, reports The Sun.

In 2003, Burrell wrote a book chronicling his life serving Harry’s mother and the Queen, and described the happy memories of Diana’s boys.

However, Harry turned to writing about his life in his memoir, Spare, saw the prince respond much less in kind to Burrell, who saw himself more as an uncle to Harry and William than a butler.

According to The Sun, Harry said Burrell had his blood boiling when he released A Royal Duty. And while the prince took a $30million advance for his memoir, he accused the former butler of milking Diana’s death for cash with his book.

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But Burrell hit back, telling The Sun that his book came from a place of bankruptcy and desperation, not privilege.

He called Harry’s accusations stupid and rich.

Harry forgets what led to my book. I was tried and went to hell for two years, wrongfully accused of theft.

The prosecution had their say but I never had mine. The book was my defense. It was also a loving tribute to his mother and grandmother.

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He went on to say that Harry knew full well how devoted I was to his mother, in life and on the page.

He went from the world I knew to a very different world, influenced by very different people, and his personality changed.

And so I’m very, very sad. I almost burst into tears when I saw that he attacked me.

I shared his childhood. My boys played with him and William. We enjoyed day trips together.

Princess Diana’s butler recalls being close to her sons William and Harry when they were growing up. Photo/Getty Images

He knows my book comes from a place of despair.

Burrell was put on trial in 2002 for allegedly stealing some of Diana’s personal items after her death, until he was cleared by the Queen herself.

I had my freedom but I was broke, on the verge of bankruptcy. I couldn’t pay my mortgage, he said.

Wed had to cash in on my boys’ insurance policies just to survive. Before the trial, I was on the verge of suicide, unable to see a way out.

The whole system was against me. The very system that Harry also rails against in his book.

Burrell said the money from his book restored him and his family.

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He felt hurt that Harry had simply called him Spare’s Butler – one of his many jabs at many people in this book.

It’s insulting, given our closeness and the countless memories we’ve shared, but her resentment goes a long way, it seems.

This comes after the former butler said he didn’t recognize the young man I see today.

The 64-year-old British servant-turned-author, who was also a footman to the late Queen as a teenager, gave an interview to Sunrise last week to talk about Harry Spare’s bombshell memoir and his TV interviews which made the headlines.

Burrell, who previously claimed Diana told him he was the only man she trusted, said the 38-year-old Duke of Sussex had fundamentally changed.

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