Princess Diana’s butler Paul Burrell wants to ‘share her secrets’ with William and Harry to help them reconcile

Paul Burrell worked for the late Princess Diana for ten years until her death in 1997. Photo / @lorraine

Princess Diana’s former butler believes he “must share her secrets” with her sons, Princes William and Harry.

Paul Burrell - who worked for the late royal for a decade until her death in 1997 - is preparing to undergo surgery for prostate cancer and is haunted by the idea he may be running out of time to tell the estranged brothers “the truth”.

He told the Daily Mirror newspaper: “I know some of it isn’t pretty, but if I leave this place and go somewhere else they’ll never know. I think they should know.

“My illness has focused my attention on telling the boys things before it’s too late – telling them what they really should know. I think Diana would say to me, ‘Paul, you must make this a priority. You must go and see my boys’.

“She confided in me and there are many things I have never spoken about, but now I feel the time is right.

The 64-year-old former servant wants to “try and do [his] bit” to help William and Harry reconcile and believes what he has to say could do just that.

“There are things that happened in their mother’s world, which they may not have knowledge of. And I think it just might fill in some blanks," Princess Diana's former butler Paul Burrell says. Photo / Getty Images

He added: “I think what I have to say could bring the boys back together, which Diana would have desperately wanted. I will only tell them the truth, that is all. I am not looking for anything in return...

Wouldn’t it be wonderful to see the boys repair their relationship and to be back where they should be back. The public would love that. I’d applaud that.

“I’d love to see William put his arm around his brother, but I don’t think we’re going to see that because there are too many obstacles in the way.”

Burrell is particularly keen to sit down with the Prince of Wales and “fill in the gaps of those years that are missing in his mind”.

He said: “While he was away at school, he could ask me any question, and I will be able to answer. I want just to say the truth. Some of the truth may be difficult, but if he doesn’t know, he’s not informed.

“I’d like to tell them the truth.

“There are things that happened in their mother’s world, which they may not have knowledge of. And I think it just might fill in some blanks.

“If we ever sat down, I would say to William, ‘This is within these walls and will never come out’.”