Prince William Set to Meet Paul Burrell

By Stephen M. Silverman

Wednesday October 29, 2003 07:38 AM EST

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As Princess Diana's onetime butler Paul Burrell watches his new expose "A Royal Duty" climb the bestseller lists, Diana's son, Prince William, is making plans to meet personally with Burrell to discuss the royal family's anger over revelations in the book, William's office said Tuesday.

Clarence House, the London home of William, his younger brother Prince Harry and father Prince Charles, confirmed that William, 21, will see Burrell, the Associated Press reports.

An official said the meeting would be "completely private" and declined to specify a time or place.

Last week, as excerpts from the book appeared in London's Mirror newspaper (PEOPLE carries an excerpt in the current issue), William and Harry issued a stern statement criticizing Burrell and saying: "We cannot believe that Paul, who was entrusted with so much, could abuse his position in such a cold and overt betrayal."

They continued: "It is not only deeply painful for the two of us, but also for everyone else affected, and it would mortify our mother if she were alive today."

Burrell, in a TV interview, responded by telling the two princes to "grow up." As for their criticism of him, he said: "I felt immediately that those boys were being manipulated and massaged by the system, by the palace, by the gray men in suits, by those who did exactly the same to their mother.

"We have to grow up and get on with it and the boys are now adults. They're not children anymore and their mother will be talked about."

According to AP, Burrell, 45, says that he welcomes the chance to see the princes. (He has criticized the royal family for failing to offer him any sign of support during the nearly two years in which he fought accusations that he stole items belonging to Diana and other royals in a trial that eventually ended thanks to the last-minute intervention of Queen Elizabeth.)

"I would like to ask (the princes) a few questions," Burrell said in a broadcast interview. "I think I would like to give them a piece of my mind and ask them why they personally did not help me when I needed help at the worst point of my life."