Royal Duty [Audiobook] [Audio CD]

Paul Burrell (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 3, 2004

The untold story behind one of the most sensational chapters in the history of the House of Windsor. Paul Burrell fought to clear his own name. Now he reveals new truths about Princess Diana - and presents for the first time as faithful an account of her thoughts as we can ever hope to read. He was the favourite footman who formed a unique relationship with the Queen. He was the butler who the Princess of Wales called 'my rock' and 'the only man I can trust'. He was accused of theft, then acquitted following the historic intervention of the monarch. He was the Princess' most intimate confidante - and is the only person able to separate the myth from the truth of the Diana years. Now at last Paul Burrell cuts through the gossip and the lies and takes us closer to the complex heart of the Royal Family then ever before.

Editorial Reviews

Review

'Paul Burrell has a terrific story to tell' The Guardian 'A classy production' The Sunday Times --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Paul Burrell served the Royal family for twenty-one years -- as personal footman to the Queen, butler to the Prince and Princess of Wales, and after their separation, butler to Diana. After her tragic death, as fundraising manager of the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund, he spearheaded the drive which raised GBP100million in her memory. He is married to Maria, and they live in Cheshire with their two sons.

Product Details

• Audio CD
• Publisher: Penguin Audiobooks (June 3, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0141805722
• ISBN-13: 978-0141805726
• Product Dimensions: 5.4 x 4.9 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (159 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,507,262 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

70 of 75 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Touching--and a vindication, November 15, 2003

By 

HeyJudy "heyjudy" (East Hampton, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: A Royal Duty (Hardcover)

Immediately after the tragic death of the much-loved Princess of Wales, there came a plethora of books claiming to be offering the real story of the woman behind the glamourous facade. For the most part, those books seemed to be mean-spirited attempts to bash the Princess' memory while at the same time lining their authors' pockets.

Virtually all of these authors appeared to hew to the theory that, since the law does not recognize slander as a legal action when the topic at hand is a deceased party, they then could engage in character assassination, so long as the same re-hashed old tales sold yet more books.

In contrast, A ROYAL DUTY is the rare book which attempts to defend and explain the way in which the Princess of Wales lived her life. Thus, simply for going against the tide, it is valuable.

Perhaps author Paul Burrell is slightly overwrought in his devotion to the late Princess. He's entitled to be. He dedicated his career to her. Reading between the lines, he has not yet gotten over his first glimpse of her corpse, presumably after its autopsy, a sight for which he was emotionally unprepared, and a sight from which her ex-husband and her family must have been shielded.

Was Burrell in love with Diana? Probably, a little bit, in a way that defines the concept of perfect and platonic love. As such, he is her protector. He says that he wrote this book to defend Diana, to explain her side of the story to her sons, and to justify his complete lack of guilt in the witch hunt which Scotland Yard and the royal courtiers mounted against him. On all counts, he makes a compelling case and, reading this book, I came to believe him.

Burrell is affronted by the way in which Prince Charles treated his young bride and Burrell makes it his business to make certain that the world (and, therefore, the couple's sons) know the truth. He also wants to be sure that there is no question but that Diana had not wanted the divorce from Charles, that she had loved Charles when she married him, and that she loved him until the day she died.

Burrell explains the harshness with which Diana consistently was treated by her in-laws' advisors and counselors. He speaks highly of the Queen, his original boss, and also of the Queen's husband, the Duke of Edinburgh. He credits both of them with trying to save the Wales' marriage. He writes that Diana was grateful to each of them for the rest of her short life, remaining in frequent communication with the couple. Burrell is less tolerant, reasonably so, with the indecisive and arrogant Prince of Wales.

Burrell may be even more offended by the Earl Spencer, brother of the late Princess, and by other members of the Spencer family, than he is by the Windsors. In fairness, the Spencers treated both Diana and Burrell far more shabbily than the Royals did.

He cannot understand how the Earl could have offered the Princess use of a house on the family estate, to her obvious elation, and then withdrawn the offer. He cannot understand how, after the Princess made her wishes clear that her wedding dress be placed in a London museum, it has ended up on the Earl's property, in the Earl's private museum, to which he charges admission.

The Spencer family, in concert with Scotland Yard, contrived to charge Burrell with stealing hundreds of the Princess' personal effects, a case that did not hold up in court. Certain truths speak for themselves... and the fact that it was the Queen herself who acknowledged Burrell's right to hold these items in safekeeping was what kept this case from being brought to a jury. She also corroborated some of his evidence, which not only was disputed by the prosecution but also was refuted and leaked to the press, those leaks presumably coming from the prosecution as well.

The book is beautifully written, probably with the assistance of reporter Steve Dennis, thanked in the acknowledgments. And Paul Burrell's wife, Maria, must be a saint to have been only the second lady is his life for all of those years.

Diana was not perfect, but she was a fascinating woman, kind and funny and elegant. Paul Burrell, quite literally, was Diana's loyal servant. By the end of her life, he obviously knew more about the way in which she lived than did her own mother or sisters.

A ROYAL DUTY will prove to be the definitive contemporaneous record of Diana's years as the Princess of Wales.

35 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I could hardly put it down!, November 3, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: A Royal Duty (Hardcover)

This may well be the definitive biography of Diana, Princess of Wales. Paul Burrell has reason to resent the Royal family for putting him through the trial, but instead he shows us their human side. I was enthralled when I read Di's letter after the divorce in which she said she wanted to hug her mother-in-law and when I read Prince Philip's letter signed "Pa". I am sorry that the young princes have spoken out against this book; it tells the truth and does not reflect negatively on any of the Royals.

47 of 54 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A cut above the typical "royal books", November 5, 2003

By 

Jessica Pastina (Massachusetts) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Royal Duty (Hardcover)

This book is so well done. It actually has something to say. It actually has heart and soul. It doesn't pander tothe royals, but it also doesn't drag them through the mud. It is balanced and seems to have come from a place of personal ethics in terms of how it was written and what topics it covers. Mr. Burrell's absolute passion for the queen and the monarcy, not to mention Diana, is obvious, as is his respect for the royals. Layered into the story is information about how his own family life with his wife and sons fit into and was affected by his almost 24/7 work in various palaces. This is an interesting, intriguing, inside look at the life of an obviously loyal and loving member of the royals' staff. Unlike some frankly bitchy books about the royals, my hands did NOT feel dirty when I put this book down. Far from it. I felt uplifted.