This comes from Princess Diana’s former butler, Paul Burrell. “No, I can’t begin to believe that… Knowing the members of the royal family as I do, and knowing them so well, I think that it’s impossible,” he said while being under cross-examination.
However, he adds that Diana did not consider Dodi Fayed as the one she would marry. Burrell explains that Diana still yearned for a former Pakistani boyfriend she planned to wed.
Burrell said that Diana wanted to marry Pakistani heart surgeon Hasnat Khan. She had split with Khan shortly before the relationship with Dodi Fayed which ended in the car crash in August 1997 in France.
He said that the relationship with Dodi Fayed was exciting for Princess Diana.
Lawyer Ian Burnett asked: “By that stage had you any sense from the princess that… to use a hackneyed phrase that has appeared in so many media reports, Dodi was ‘the one’?”
Burrell answered: “No, I didn’t have that impression.”
Dodi Fayed and the driver Henri Paul died instantly in the crash. Diana would die a few hours later due to internal injuries.
The court also questioned Burrell about a warning from Queen Elizabeth II to watch out as there were powers in the country at work which was reportedly made to him.
Burrell suggested it could be: media bosses, the Establishment, or the security services.
But, there were things that Burrell had limits on when pressed on insights about Diana.
“Some secrets will go to my grave,” Burrell said.
Dodi Fayed’s father Mohamed al-Fayed claims that it was a conspiracy to prevent Diana from marrying a Muslim and having his child.
Burrell said that Diana was more serious about marrying Kahn than Fayed.
“The princess seriously contemplated marriage with Khan. She asked me if it was possible to arrange a private marriage between them. Plans were being made in Kensington Palace for Hasnat to have his own rooms,” Burrell said.