Posted on 10/27/2003 1:38:43 PM PST by WinOne4TheGipper
Ex-royal butler Paul Burrell today revealed he would never have written his controversial book if he had received "just one phone call" from the Royal Family.
The former servant also said he would love to give Princes William and Harry "a piece of his mind" and told them to "grow up".
The latest attack from Mr Burrell is certain to deepen the row with Buckingham Palace after the royal brothers accused him of a "cold and overt betrayal" of their mother.
And the war of words is set to heat up tomorrow when Mr Burrell's revelations about his former boss, Diana, Princess of Wales, in A Royal Duty hits the high streets.
In an interview with BBC One's Real Story, to be broadcast tomorrow, Mr Burrell said he would not have written the book had he had a call after the collapse of his theft trial at the Old Bailey last year.
"This is not my revenge, absolutely not," he told interviewer Fiona Bruce.
"It would have been a very different world if the telephone had rung and the boys had said 'Oh Paul we're sorry we couldn't help you during your trial, we just couldn't our hands were tied. Why don't you come down to London with Maria and the boys and we'll do something'."
Specifically on the book, he added: "Just one telephone call would have stopped it, one. Is that too much too ask - really?
"Having served the Royal Family for 21 years, is one telephone call too much? It's not."
He said he only decided to write the book after the "process took a hold of me and squeezed me and made me someone different."
Mr Burrell's comments came as he prepared for a whirlwind of interviews both here and in America to promote his book.
He has refused to apologise for his revelations.
And there is still no indication of whether a meeting between him and Princes William and Harry would take place, despite both sides agreeing to one.
Mr Burrell told Ms Bruce: "I am angry with them (the princes). Why do they listen to other people around them?
"Why listen to people who always say yes and no one tells you no? I'd love to give them a piece of my mind."
A spokeswoman for Clarence House stressed any meeting would be a private affair while a spokesman for Mr Burrell said they had not yet had a phone call.
Mr Burrell told the BBC he was saddened and angry by the princes' scathing attack on him but claimed they were being used as "emotional cannons" by the "grey men in suits" at the Palace.
"I felt immediately that those boys were being manipulated and massaged by the system," he said.
"By those people who did exactly the same to their mother."
Mr Burrell also told the BBC it was time for the princes to "grow up" and stressed they were just children when their mother was alive while he "lived in an adult world with the princess".
Up to 135,000 copies of A Royal Duty will hit book stores across the nation tomorrow, described by publisher Penguin as an "exceptional" amount.
A spokeswoman for Clarence House today doubted that the young princes would read the book, or would ask for copies of it.
The book went on sale in America yesterday with one million copies printed across the Atlantic, although it was too early to say how many had been sold, Penguin said.
In an interview with the Sunday Times, Mr Burrell claimed that letters, allegedly to and from Diana, which formed a main basis for the book were just the "tip of the iceberg".
He will spend the next two days doing a round of interviews defending his book, starting with BBC's Radio FiveLive and the Today programme tomorrow morning.
He is then due to fly out to America later in the week for a fortnight of promotion, a spokeswoman for Penguin said.
Earlier today, a friend of Diana, Vivienne Parry, said Prince William should put the former butler "back in his pantry".
God Save the Queen...cuz tourists are money!
Make for mush more interesting history couple hundred years from now. The modern-day troubles are SO milquetoast....hot pokers....now THAT was interesting.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.