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And I was the last one.

With the sunlight coming through the trees,

I looked down into the hole

and there's a metal plate.

It didn't say, "Her Royal Highness,

The Princess of Wales."

It said, "Diana, Princess of Wales."

I thought why couldn't they, in the last moment,

have given her back her title.

It wouldn't have hurt anyone.

So, I picked up some of the earth and threw it into the hole.

And that's, that's where my life was.

I could remember begging her saying,

"Why didn't you take me with you?"

My name is Paul Burrell.

For 21 years, I looked after the British Royal Family.

For 11 years, I looked after Her Majesty the Queen

and for the following ten years, Princess Diana.

I was born in a coal-mining community,

in the North of England

in a little tiny village called Grassmoor

near Chesterfield in Derbyshire.

And my fate was to be a coal miner

like my grandfather, like my father and my brothers.

I didn't want to go down the mine.

I didn't want to go down the pit

and come back every day black.

I saw my grandfather die with emphysema.

I knew it was a dangerous job

and, as a child I didn't like to get my hands dirty.

So I thought, "No, I've got to escape this world."

I left school when I was 16 years old

with no qualifications

and I went to the local catering college.

Whilst I was studying Hotel Management,

the principal of the college said to me, "They are looking for boys like you

to train at Buckingham Palace.

Would you like to go for an interview?"

So I thought, "That would be interesting."

So, went for the interview

and I got the job.

And at the age of 18,

I arrived at those famous gates.

Wasn't the first time I being to Buckingham Palace.

As a small child,

I stood in front of the railings watching the Changing of the Guard.

I was only eight years old

and I turned to father and said,

"One day I am going to work here."

And he ruffled my hair and said,"Yeah, sure you are."

A coal miner's son from the North of England,

I don't think so.

But at the age of 18,

I arrived at the Tradesman's entrance to Buckingham Palace

and began my new life

at that very famous residence.

I remember the first night,

in my bed,

looking at my uniforms,

thinking, "Is this real?"

Pinching myself,

thinking, "This is just fantasy."

It can't be true.

But it was true.

Within the first year of my service

in the royal household,

I was one of 20 household footmen.

Right at the bottom.

The Queen spotted me

and she said to the palace steward,

"I like that young man,

that one that's always smiling.

What's his name?"

And the palace steward said to the Queen,

"He's Paul, Your Majesty. He's our latest recruit."

"Would you send him upstairs?

I'd like to take a closer look."

So I was summoned into Her Majesty's presence

Just for one day.

At breakfast that morning,

we had sausages.

And I thought,

the Queen's going to ask me to take her dogs for a walk in the garden.

So I stuffed my tailcoat pocket with sausages.

I went upstairs to see the Queen for the day.

"Would you like to take these dogs out for walk, Paul?"

"I'd love to, Your Majesty."

"Let's see how you get along with them."

In those days, the Queen had nine corgis

living with her inside the palace.

I still remember watching those net drapes twitch as she watched me

running through the gardens with the dogs.

Of course, the dogs loved me.

The Queen to this day never knew

that I had a pocket full of sausages.

So my career was set.

She liked me. She said she'd keep me.

And she kept me for 11 years.

And I traveled all around the world.

Where ever she went, I went.

Who she met, I met.

What she ate, I ate.

So, what a colorful life I had.

The first airplane I ever flew on was Concorde.

We took Concorde to Saudi Arabia.

The first ship I ever sailed on,

wasn't the Queen Elizabeth II.

It was Royal Yacht Britannia.

So, I went around the world with the Queen.

Saw presidents, kings and queens, princes and princesses.

It was very interesting and formative time for me.

And the queen became a sort of surrogate mother to me.

And she told me much about her life,

and her history

and she taught me how to speak properly.

So where did life take me?

It took me to all the royal residences.

To Buckingham palace, Windsor Castle,

Sandringham, Balmoral

and onboard Royal Yacht Britannia.

In the summer of 1980,

the Queen told me that a young girl was to come to stay for the weekend.

"Would you meet her at the front door and show her her room?"

"Of course, Your Majesty."

So I am standing in the front hallway

of Balmoral Castle on the black and white tiles,

waiting for this car to arrive.

And out of the car comes a shy, young girl

that nobody knew who she was.

She had one little suitcase in the back.

"Is that all you brought with you?"

You are here for the weekend.

You have to go to hunting, shooting.

You have to go to Ghillies Ball,

tea parties, lunch parties.

And that's all you have."

She says, "Will it do?"

I think we better take you to the room and find out.

I showed her to her room.

"Would you stay for a while and have a chat with me?

I am completely out of my depth," she says.

So I stayed. "What time do you go down for tea?"

"Four o'clock.

You go down to the small drawing room.

The Queen will pour you a cup of tea.

"I don't like tea."

"I'll make sure she has coffee there waiting for you."

"Then what happens?"

I said, "When tea is cleared, you go into the drawing room.

And then the Queen will pour you gin and tonic."

"I don't drink."

"I'll make sure there's a glass of water there for you."

"Then what happens?"

"Then the Queen plays cards on her card table.

Do you play Bridge?"

"Yes."

"Then make sure you are sat at the card table to play Bridge with the Queen.

That's a good way to get to know Her Majesty.

Then the Queen will take the dogs into the garden.

Maybe you could suggest you went for a walk with her.

Also a good time to get Her Majesty's ear.

That's what you want to do."

This young girl was fascinated by this routine

of royal households.

And as I close the door that day,

I noticed the name on the door.

Lady Diana Spencer.

[interviewer] Do you find it a very daunting experience

that yesterday you were a nanny looking after the children,

now you are about to marry Prince of Wales and,

and one day you could, in all likelihood, be a Queen?

It is a tremendous change for someone to be 19

to make all of a sudden a transition.

It is but I have had a small run up to all this

in the last six months.

And, next to Prince Charles, I can't go wrong.

He's there with me.

[interviewer] I can see the ring. Let us have a look at it.

Yes.

Such a wonderful sapphire diamond.

[interviewer] When, when did you get engaged? Just last night?

Last Sunday.

[interviewer] And, but not wearing it yesterday?

[Diana] No, no. I kept it hidden.

And I was absolutely determined that this was going to be

as near a secret as possible on the actual day.

It was my ambition.

[interviewer] But you both must be awfully excited

and it must be awfully difficult to keep it as a secret.

-Yes. -Very good for us.

-Very good-- -A good practice?

[laughs] Yes.

And good for the people we told to.

Quite interesting to see who can keep secrets.

[Paul] One year later,

you saw that woman become a royal princess

in this cathedral behind me.

-[low crowd cheering] -[Paul] St. Paul Cathedral was the setting.

The most watched event in human history

was her wedding day.

[crowd cheering]

[Paul] The longest train in royal history.

The most creased dress in royal history.

But the princess was brimming with hope and love for the future.

I, Diana Frances...

[priest] Take thee, Charles Phillip Arthur George...

[Diana] Take thee, Charles Phillip Arthur George...

[priest] ...to my wedded husband.

[Diana] ...to my wedded husband.

[Paul] She fell in love with her prince.

And there they were, a golden couple.

And a year later,

that was completed by William arriving.

[scattered applause]

[interviewer] Does Prince William have a favorite toy?

[indistinct whisper]

Um, Jamie, he loves his koala bear he's got.

But he hasn't got anything particular.

He just likes something with a bit of a noise.

[whispers] Plastic whales with...

Uh, he's got a plastic whale that throws things at the top, little balls.

[all laughing]

[Paul] During this time, of course,

Diana was visiting Balmoral Sandringham

and all the royal residencies.

Actually got to know me very well.

I remember her showing me the honeymoon pictures.

I remember her telling me that she was carrying another baby

which was Harry and she pushed me into the dinning room,

"Put your hand on my tummy," she said.

I said, "No, I can't do that.

You are a royal princess."

She took my hand and placed it on the tummy,

"Can you feel that?" she said.

And a little kick.

She says, "It's a boy."

[gasps] "You shouldn't have told me that.

That is a state secret.

Now, if it gets out, you'll blame me."

She says, "But I am trusting you with that secret."

That was the first time she had actually trusted me.

[indistinct conversation]

Granny was christened in this.

-Great grandmother. -Great granny.

And I was.

I was christened in this.

[William] Hmm.

Looks remarkably well despite how old it is.

[Charles] How is he?

Must be incredibly hot inside there, isn't it?

[Diana] Yes.

[Charles] He's dribbling. You might...

[baby coos]

[Paul] She began trusting me with more.

Telling me that her marriage wasn't all it should be.

"I need somebody like you, Paul.

I need somebody like you for the future."

[indistinct chatter]

Here. Zara.

Zara. Where's Zara?

-Zara! -Look.

[baby crying]

[Paul] " I've got no one I could trust in.

Would you think about leaving the Queen

and come work for me?"

Now, I had the best job in the world.

I wasn't about to leave the Queen of England.

"If you come and live with me,

I'll give you a beautiful cottage

in the countryside at Highgrove.

And you, and your two children and your wife,

can grow with my family and William and Harry.

And we'll be just one big happy family.

Think about it.

Life would be much better for you.

The standard would be higher."

I thought about it.

I thought it was a bright future for my family.

But how do you tell the Queen of England

that you are going to leave her?

[inhales sharply] Wasn't easy.

So, I took my moment to Balmoral and she stood

by the log-fire warming her bottom,

and all the dogs were asleep.

"Your Majesty, I have got something to discuss with you.

And I don't know quite how to tell you this."

"What is it, Paul?", she said hopping from one foot to the other.

"Well..."

She could see I was struggling.

"You don't have to tell me," she said.

"Charles has already told me.

And think of it this way,

you are not actually leaving me,

you are just moving to one side for a short time.

And when I am dead and gone,

and Charles and Diana are king and queen,

you'll be back here doing the same job.

So you just go full circle.

And you're leaving for the best of reasons,

honorable reasons, for your family.

But be careful, Paul, because it's not all it seems."

And that little warning,

sort of echoed in my ears as I left Buckingham Palace

and went to work at Highgrove House in Gloucestershire.

Now, the royal marriage was falling apart

and I was Diana's man

placed strategically at Highgrove.

Placed there to keep the house in order

but also be there for Diana,

to be there as "her rock," she later called me.

It was difficult for me to tred the path

between Prince Charles and Princess Diana.

Lady Diana arrived every weekend with the boys

on Friday afternoon and left every Sunday.

But someone else occupied that space in between.

And I learned to serve two royal mistresses.

One, Princess of Wales

and the other, Mrs. Parker Bowles.

This was still a secret.

I was keeping this secret for both the Prince and the Princess.

Until, of course, it became intolerable.

And the royal couple decided to split.

And Prince Charles said to Princess Diana,

"Make a list of everything you want.

Do you want the clock?

Do you want the dining room table?

Do you want the silver? What do you want?

Just have whatever you want."

So Diana went away to make the list.

And on top of the list, she put my name.

"You can't have Paul.

Paul came from my Mumma."

"I need him for the future."

"You have to take Paul off the list."

"No chance. You said I could have anything I wanted.

And I'm taking Paul."

So, along with table and the clock and the sofa,

I was sent back to London.

And yet a new life began

as the Princess' butler at Kensington Palace.

I was with her for ten years in total.

And began traveling with her around the word.

To Angola, to Bosnia,

to far-reach countries.

People, searching out people who were less fortunate than we were.

People who needed their plight heightened

by an incredible icon of our times.

So, I witnessed that first hand.

I remember going to a hospital in Bosnia

where a little girl had been blown up by a landmine.

She'd been into the field to retrieve her brother's football.

And she'd been blown up and lost her legs.

She was critically ill.

And the Princess sat by the bed

and held her hand

and this little girl couldn't understand English.

And then the Princess left.

The little girl opened her eyes and said to the nurse in her language,

"I've just seen an angel."

You see, I saw that gift of humanity

the Princess brought to these people.

To people torn apart by war.

And that's a point to which I often refer because,

that one moment of humanity

changed my life.

And I saw the Princess in a different light.

I saw her

as beautiful inside

as she was outside.

What an incredible human being.

We will never see the likes of her again.

So, my life with her was filled with fun,

with happiness, with drama,

controversy,

and lots of things happened in those ten years.

Mrs. Parker Bowles is a great friend of mine.

And I have a large number of friends I am terribly lucky to have.

The Prince of Wales had just been on TV

to admit adultery with Camilla Parker Bowles

and Princess that evening was due to go out

to the Serpentine Gallery to see her old friend, Lord Colombo.

When marriages break down,

awful, miserable as it is,

that so often you know that it is your friends

who are the most important.

"I can't go. I'm not going.

I'm not going. It will be too humiliating.

The whole world now knows that Charles has been having an affair.

He's admitted it."

"You are going," I said.

"I have got nothing to wear."

"Yes, you have got something to wear."

I went up to her wardrobe room

and picked out a Christina Strambolian dress with a fishtail.

"This is what you are going to wear," I said.

"I can't fit into it." "Yes, you can. Put it on."

So, she slipped it on.

"Now, to compliment that I think we should have

the pearl choker and the sapphire.

That's all you need.

High heels and those jaws."

"Right." She put them on

and she looked a million dollars.

"Remember, when you go out there," I said,

"you stride, you hold your head high,

you smile, you engage, firm handshake.

Say to yourself,

'I'm Diana, Princess of Wales and I'm here to say.

I'm the mother of the future king of England.'

Say it to yourself.

Say it."

So she said it,

she went out there. She did it.

I saw it on the news and I wrote her a little note.

I put it on the pillow that night.

"Well done, girl. You did it."

That's what I was there for.

I was there to support her,

to be there as a friend, as a confidant,

and above that,

a sort of a father figure and a brother all rolled into one.

My role became more and more and more as the years passed.

She called me, "Her rock."

She said, "You are the only man I've ever really trusted.

You are the captain of my ship.

Without you," she wrote, "we'd all be lost."

[indistinct conversation]

I was told long time ago, I'd backed the loser.

I'd gone with the one who'd be forgotten.

And here we are, 20 years later,

we are still talking about her.

because Diana has become an icon.

We're talking about her because she changed the rule-book.

She tore out pages from the dusty old book,

and she rewrote the rules.

She changed the royal family for ever.

The ghost of Diana will always haunt the House of Windsor.

She changed the rules

for the woman she'd never meet.

She changed the rules for Catherine

so that she would have a better life,

a better passage,

and who ever Harry marries.

She changed the rules for her, too.

So, in a way, she's changing the rules for her children.

Her children, William and Harry, are her legacy to the world.

They will finish their mother's work.

We want to represent exactly what our mother would have wanted.

Um, how she was and all those sort of things.

So, therefore, the charity itself alone isn't enough

We want to have this big concert with full of energy,

full of, sort of, fun and happiness

which I knew she'd have wanted.

And on her birthday as well, it's going to be the best birthday she ever had.

And whether we can, the two of us, organize it.

We wanted to have the fact that evening was all about our mother.

The main purpose is to celebrate and have fun.

And to remember her in a fun way.

It's, the ideas, we wanted the artists that our mother really loved

and artists that both Harry and I enjoy

and, in the middle, with ballet and

Obviously, she loved her dancing and her musicals.

So with that, you have got something different.

It's just not any old concert.

It's going to be different and it's going to be interesting.

If it works, it'd be brilliant. If it doesn't,

we'd be in the country house.

[interviewer] And will we see you dancing?

Really hope not.

I hope so. For him, not me.

I hope we could get a chance to see him.

It would be a terrifying sight if you do.

[William] She cared, she cared massively.

We have been left in no doubt at all,

that we were the most important thing in her life

and after that, it was everyone else.

[Harry] Really caring, so sweet,

and very much missed by not only us

but I think a lot of people.

[Paul] Thirty six years old, you don't expect your mother to die.

Her untimely death catapulted those boys

into the forefront of the royal family.

They are royal family's future.

One day we will see King William and Queen Catherine

on the throne of England.

And strangely enough,

when William and Harry came to see me

at Kensington Palace shortly after their mother died,

I said, "You must take something.

Take something which belonged to her that you can keep safe.

What would you want, William?" I said.

"I'd like Mummy's Cartier watch.

The one that Grandpa Spencer gave to her

for her 21st birthday."

"Okay." I went to the safe and I got the watch.

"What about you, Harry, what would you like?"

"I remember," he said,

"when I held Mummy's hand when I was a small boy,

that ring always hurt me because it was so big."

"Do you mean her engagement ring?"

"Yes."

So, I went to the safe and gave Harry Diana's engagement ring.

William told Harry that he was to be become engaged to Catherine.

Harry said to him,

"Wouldn't it be fitting if she had Mummy's ring?"

And then one day,

that ring will be sat on the throne of England.

So, Harry gave up his precious treasure.

His one thing he kept from his mother,

he gave to his brother.

That's selfless, kind,

and exactly who Diana was.

Harry has Diana's personality.

William has his father's.

Harry is fun, naughty,

great time out.

William is serious and studious

and kingly.

Two boys from the same parents.

Two boys, very different nature.

[William] We shared a similar feeling of loss

having a loved one, in my case, a parent,

snatched away so suddenly.

I, like them, knew there will always be a gaping hole

that could never be filled.

I finally got hands on to a job that I absolutely adore but it's still hard work

but, I'm better than William so it's fun.

[chuckles] Yeah.

[interviewer] Have you been helping him with the exams?

Oh, yeah. He needs a lot of help.

It's the RAF way so you have to help the army quite a lot.

[interviewer] What has it come down to, mental math test?

Yeah, a bit of that, you know,

future questions, try to catch him out.

[interviewer] Seven-eights.

-Yeah, exactly, lots of that. -[interviewer chuckles]

[Paul] The only secret Diana kept from me

was the Martin Bashir interview forPanorama.

I had known Martin Bashir for a long time

and he was one of the men that I used to bring into the palace

under a blanket because he didn't want to be seen by anyone.

He was never the lover of the Princess'.

He was just a work associate.

He persuaded the Princess that she had to have a voice.

She needed to tell her story

and what better vehicle than Panorama.

I was sent home on a Sunday afternoon.

"Strange," I thought.

"Why would she be sending me home?"

"Go and spend some time with your family.

I am doing nothing this afternoon.

Don't worry about me."

The minute I had left the Palace,

in through the back door comes Martin Bashir and his camera crew.

And they set up, the Prince of Wales sitting room,

which she used for that interview.

At the age of 19,

you always think you are prepared for everything

and you have the knowledge of what's coming ahead

but, although I was daunted at the prospect at the time

I thought I had the support of my husband-to be.

I had no idea that was being done.

The next morning we came to work,

I noticed all the furniture being moved.

"Why have you moved the furniture?

It's not in the same place."

"Um, I had a dance class.

I had to move the furniture out of the way

just so we could exercise."

"Strange. Very strange."

She avoided me for the next two days.

Never spoke to me.

"How strange," I thought, "she is hiding something."

And then she told me

that she made a recording with Martin Bashir for Panorama.

"What have you said?"

"Well, I have just put the record straight," she said.

We didn't know what she said

until we saw it.

Well, it was three of us in this marriage.

So, it was a bit crowded.

Thirty one million people stopped in their tracks on that Monday night

and couldn't believe what they were seeing.

The Princess of Wales baring her heart on national television.

We couldn't take our eyes away from it.

We couldn't believe what we were hearing.

"There are three people in my marriage.

My husband doesn't fit for the top job.

I don't, I think it would bring him limitations.

She was honest, open and frank.

"Did you love James Hewitt?"

Yes, I did. Yes.

[Martin] Were you unfaithful?

Yes, I adored him. Yes, I was in love with him.

But I was very let-down.

[Paul] It was all there. I couldn't believe it.

It was too raw for most people

and an embarrassment for the royal family.

That was the final straw.

That was the straw that broke the back of the House of Windsor.

From that moment on, Diana was outcast.

Her titles were stripped.

She was no longer prayed for in church.

She was on her own.

[Martin] You do live very much on your own, don't you?

Yes, I am. I don't mind that, actually.

You know, people think at the end of the day,

a man is the only answer.

Actually, a fulfilling job is better for me.

Living and working for the Queen

was far more easy than living with Diana.

With the Queen,

we always knew that her life ran with routines and protocols and time tables.

We knew that the breakfast would be at nine o'clock,

lunch will be at one o'clock, tea would be five o'clock

and dinner would be at 8:15.

It was the same every day.

It's Groundhog Day at Buckingham Palace.

With Diana, anything could happen.

No routines, no time tables, nothing.

We might skip lunch, we might be shopping.

We could be doing anything during the day.

So, life was more exciting with Diana.

But the difference between the two worlds was,

I always knew where I was with the Queen.

I always knew where the line was in the sand.

I knew when not to cross that line.

I knew to stay and bow.

I was the servant.

But also a friend and confidant to the Queen but in a different way.

With Diana, it was,

"Come and sit down. Have a cup of tea with me. Have a cup of coffee.

Don't just stand there."

I used to stand every morning waiting for the Princess to come through

from her dressing room.

And every morning, standing there

with a half a grapefruit and a cup of black coffee.

I'll bow and say, "Good morning, Your Royal Highness."

"For goodness' sake," she'd say, "when are you going to stop doing that?

It's just you and me in the room.

Sit down and have a cup of coffee with me and tell me what's been going on."

That was her world.

Diana did things differently.

There was a memo that came from Buckingham Palace.

"Diana, when you are in public, please wear a hat and please wear gloves

'cause you are touching the public and you might catch something.

And I am not too sure about you touching those people with HIV and AIDS.

Are you sure you are safe?"

We lived in a world of ignorance.

We lived in a world where people were not educated.

They didn't know.

The Princess introduced me to the first person to die with HIV and AIDS.

I didn't know anything about it until she showed me that world.

She would sit and hold people's hands and counseled them.

So life with Diana was very different.

Life with Diana was 24/7.

My wife said, "There were three people in my marriage, too."

Because Diana is always there.

She used to say, "She's your baby."

I said, "Yes, she is my baby. She needs me.

She needs me to be there."

My wife had two children.

The Princess had no one.

Her children were away at boarding school

and she had no husband.

Occasionally, she had a male companion.

But they came and they went.

I was responsible for that, too.

I was the go-between.

I was the one that went out with my car,

rode people back to Kensingston Palace

in the back seat of my car under the blanket.

Just to give Princess some love.

All she was ever looking for was to be loved.

She used to say to me,

"All I want, Paul, is to someone,

a man to put arms around me

and say, 'I love you.'

That's not too much to ask, is it?"

And that's what she was searching for.

Towards the end of her life, of course,

she found her soulmate.

Her soulmate was Hasnat Khan,

the heart surgeon.

Hasnat Khan had been the Princess' companion for over two years.

Nobody knew about Hasnat Khan.

That was not played out on the world stage.

Whereas, after they had broken up,

the Princess was invited to the south of France

by the Mohamed Al-Fayeds.

She met Dodi Al-Fayed.

Did you know that the romance of Princess and Dodi Al-Fayed

was 30 days from beginning to the end.

It only lasted 30 days.

I spoke to her regularly when she was away.

"Have you seen Hasnat?"

I said, "Yes, I went for a drink with him last night."

"What does he think about me being here

in South of France with Dodi Al-Fayed?"

"Well, he's not too pleased."

"Has he seen the pictures in the papers?"

"Yes, he has because you know his routine.

You know, every morning he goes to the corner shop

and sees the press. You know that.

And I know that's what you are doing.

You are manipulating the world's media by having these pictures taken

to show Hasnat who you are with."

It is sort of a,

"Are you jealous?

Do you mind? Do you care?

Are you bothered?"

That's what Diana was saying to Hasnat Khan

through those pictures in the world's media.

And, of course, until Hasnat was bothered

And I didn't find out recently

that he called her the day before she died on her mobile phone.

He called her to try and patch up their relationship.

Had she returned to London,

I truly believe

the romance between Hasnat Khan and the Princess

would have been rekindled.

It was too strong.

It was too deep.

They were true soulmates.

I said to the Princess, "When are you going home?"

"I'm coming home on Sunday, Paul.

I'm just bored.

I'm on this boat.

It's freezing cold downstairs.

It's boiling hot on deck.

I'm sending these pictures out

and nobody is coming back to me.

I'm having no communication. I need to come home.

But the only way home is on the Harrod's jet.

The only way I can get home is via Paris

because Dodi has to go to Paris

to do some business with his father."

"How is he with you?"

"Oh, he's very spoiling.

He's very generous," the Princess said.

"He's given me a necklace, some earrings.

He's given me a watch."

I said, "You know what's coming next, don't you?

He's gonna give you a ring.

"Do you think so?" "Oh, yes.

He'll give you a ring.

But remember when he gives it to you,

put it on the forth finger on your right hand."

"Oh. Yes.

Fourth finger, right hand."

I can hear her saying it.

"Fourth finger, right hand."

Yes, that's the thing to do.

I'll do that. You always know what to do.

That's exactly what I'll do."

So, if there was a ring,

which I very much doubt,

it would have been placed on the fourth finger of the right hand.

Fate in the wrong place at the wrong time.

That tragic accident should have never happened.

But that's what it must be.

It must be an accident.

What confuses me, of course, is the fact that

ten months before that

the Princess had written me a letter.

And in that letter, she said,

in her own handwriting, on her own stationary,

her words were,

"The next few months are the most difficult in my life.

I fear that my husband is planning an accident

in my car-head injuries

in order

that he can remarry."

Now when you read those words,

the prophesy that Princess made

ten months before she died that came true

is rather eerie.

But I just think it was just paranoia at the time.

We checked the brakes on the car several times.

We pulled the floor boards up

in her sitting room to look for listening devices.

We didn't find anything.

But then, we didn't know what we were looking for.

So I have no idea

whether people were listening,

people were following, people were watching.

I have no idea.

All I can believe is that no one

would sign an order

to murder the mother of the future king of England.

Who would want to murder Diana?

I can't believe that.

It's now the 31st of August,

in the late hours, I just returned from the theater.

We'd been to Beauty and Beast,

rather ironic really.

Princess used to say, "That's the story of my life."

And the phone rings.

It was Lucia Flecha de Lima,

the Brazilian Ambassador's wife in Washington.

She said, "Paul, CNN has just reported

the Princess is in a accident in Paris.

Can you find out more?

You have her mobile number. I don't have it. Ring her."

So I put the phone down and immediately rang the Princess' mobile phone.

And it rang, and rang and rang.

I thought that's strange because in those days,

mobiles were in their infancy.

But she always carried it with her.

I didn't know that it was just ringing out

on a marble top inside the suite

at the Ritz in Paris.

I had no idea where the phone was.

Is she hadn't taken it with her?

Right, I must get into work mode

and find out more about this accident.

So, I went up to her apartment

and waited for news to come through Balmoral.

And the first we heard the Princess had head injuries

and broken her arm.

And at two o'clock in the morning, we heard

that the injuries were more serious than they first thought.

And it wasn't until three o'clock

that they told us that the accident had been fatal.

And during this time,

my thoughts were, "I must get to Paris."

Because if she is incapacitated in any way,

she'll need me

to support her, to take care of her,

to keep her safe.

And when I heard that the accident was fatal,

I thought there's even more reason to be there.

I do need to keep her safe. I need to protect her.

I need to look after her.

And so I booked my flight through New York. It was still open.

And I was on the first flight to Paris next morning.

So, early Sunday morning I arrived in Paris

and was taken straight by the British Ambassador taken to hospital.

And I remember going into the elevator

and the elevator doors opening on the first floor

and looking down the corridor and seeing

and two guards stood outside of her door.

And I thought that's where she is.

So I was led not to that room but to the room next door.

Nurse Humbert was the French nurse on duty.

Small, petite nurse that could only speak broken English.

And she came to me and said, "Paul,

would you like to go and see the Princess?"

"Yes, I would."

I'm going to describe to you what I saw.

As the door opened, it was a very warm night in Paris,

the room was stifling hot.

I noticed two people in the corner.

Shady looking characters behind the screen.

Later I realize, they were the undertakers.

And I approached the bed,

it was a hospital bed,

and the Princess was covered in a white sheet.

Her head and her feet were visible.

And her hands were on top of the sheet.

And I approached the bed and,

I stared for a while

in disbelief.

And I watched the fan whirring on the side of the bed table.

A fan was moving on the bed side table

and as it moved,

it moved the Princess' hair

and I could see her eyelashes moving.

And I took her hand and I said,

"Wake up.

You are asleep, aren't you?

[whispers] Wake up."

And nothing happened.

She was soft and warm.

Not dead at all, to me.

It was quite a while before I realized

that she was actually not with us

and then the floodgates opened.

I am not ashamed to say that I think they could hear me in the next building.

I was grief-stricken.

But I... [sighs]

...I pulled myself together

and realized I had this job to do

and remembered what she told me about death.

She said,

"At that moment when you pass,

your spirit lifts from your body

and you hang around for a while and watch.

So I said, "You are here, aren't you?

You are here.

You are watching me.

You are watching what I'm doing.

And I'll try and do it the way you'd want me to do it.

So I stayed with her.

And it wasn't such a harrowing experience after that

because I realized

it was cathartic in a way that I could help her.

I could bring her back

as a royal princess.

I could bring her back in the start the way she should be brought back.

And I stayed and I came home with her

on the plane and brought her home into Central London.

What was moving about that night was,

all the cars were stopped on the motor way

and people were standing on the Central Road waiting

for the hearse to come by.

I couldn't believe it.

Standing hundreds of them,

on gangways, on bridges,

by the side of the road. No cars moving.

People had got out of their cars.

It's the most incredible thing.

And we brought her home and I came home

and I had a little walk in the gardens of Kensington Palace

and saw people

beginning to bring the floral tributes.

Maybe just 20 or 30 of them.

Maybe a 100.

Nothing like what would happen that week.

I think actually that rocked the royal family.

It shocked them to the core.

They didn't understand what was happening.

They didn't understand

that the world could love a woman whom they have never met.

They didn't understand why the people were crying in the street

They thought the world had gone mad

that everybody had gone hysterical.

The Queen's first thought was to keep her grandchildren safe

and so she kept them at Balmoral

and looked after them behind those walls.

That's what she thought was the best thing for them.

There was no flag flying at Buckingham Palace.

It seemed the royal family didn't care.

They wanted rid of Diana.

They stripped her of royal titles

and she was an outcast.

Now what to do about it.

This has never happened before.

It was unprecedented.

There was no rule-book to look to,

to say what shall we do next.

Every body was feeling the wave very carefully.

It was a very sensitive time.

The royal family were almost on the brink

of losing the throne.

That would be generated throughout the week

with hysteria, with emotion.

First I want to pay tribute to Diana myself.

She was an exceptional and gifted human being.

In good times and bad,

she never lost her capacity to smile and laugh

nor to inspire others with her warmth and kindness.

I admired and respected her.

Her energy and commitment to others

and especially for her devotion to her two boys.

This week at Balmoral,

we all have been trying to help William and Harry

come to terms with devastating loss

for they and the rest of us have suffered.

No one who knew Diana will never forget her.

Millions of others who never met her

but felt they knew her, remember her.

I, for one believe,

there are lessons to be drawn from her life

and from the extraordinary and moving reaction to her death.

I share in your determination to cherish her memory.

I remember asking,

sending a message back to Buckingham Palace to say,

"Would it possible for the Princess to come home

for one last night?"

And the Queen said,

"It was a good opportunity

to extend the funeral procession

because two million people are coming to London

to watch the spectacle."

So she said it was a very good idea, yes.

So the Princess came home.

And I asked all the family

if they would like to come and pay their respects

and stay with me on a vigil.

Nobody came.

So, I'm sat with Diana at Kensington Palace.

And I said to her...

[scoffs]

"Isn't this appropriate?

It's just me and you.

The way it's always been.

Just you and me rattling around inside the palace.

So, I suppose,

I better pull up a chair and have a chat."

And I remember pulling up a chair and,

leaning on her coffin

covered in the royal standard

and talking to her all night long.

I talked about all her friends.

I talked about all the outpouring of love from people.

I said, "Funny, if you could see this but then I suppose you can see this.

And what would you have said?

You wouldn't have understood, would you?"

And then morning came.

And,

I could hear the crunch

of the wheels of gun carriage on the gravel outside

and I knew they have come to take her away.

I didn't want to let go.

So those soldiers in their big boots

stomped down in my corridor,

into the room,

and lifted her

and she was beginning her journey.

I remember bowing for the last time

and saying,

"Goodbye, Your Royal Highness."

Because,

that in my eyes,

she was always Your Royal Highness.

And then I followed the procession

to Westminster Abbey and sat in the choir stalls

and I said to the usher,

"You brought us to the wrong place.

We shouldn't be sat here.

The Queen's sitting there

and the Prime Minister sitting there.

Why are we siting here?"

And they said, "That's where your place is."

So, I watched the royal family come down the aisle

and watched the Queen Mum on her sticks

and she nodded in my direction.

The Queen bowed in my direction

because I knew them all, I knew these people

And, Earl Spencer

delivered his speech.

I stand before you today

the representative of a family in grief,

in a country in mourning

before a world in shock.

"We are all united

not only in our desire to pay our respects to Diana

but rather in our need to do so.

Today is our chance to say thank you

for the way you brightened our lives,

even though God granted you but half a life.

We will all feel cheated always

that you were taken from us so young

and yet we must learn to be grateful

that you came along at all.

Only now that you are gone do we truly appreciate what we are now without

and we want you to know that life without you

is very, very difficult.

For all the status, the glamour, the applause,

Diana remained throughout a very insecure person at heart,

almost childlike in her desire to do good for others

so she could release herself

from deep feelings of unworthiness

of which her eating disorders were merely a symptom.

She would want us today to pledge ourselves

to protecting her beloved boys,

William and Harry, from a similar fate

and I do this here, Diana, on your behalf.

We will not allow them to suffer the anguish

that used regularly to drive you to tearful despair.

And beyond that, on behalf of your mother and sisters,

I pledge that we, your blood family,

will do all we can to continue the imaginative and loving way

in which you were steering these two exceptional young men

so that their souls are not simply immersed by duty and tradition

but can sing openly as you planned.

Above all, we give thanks for the life of a woman

I am so proud to be able to call my sister,

the unique, the complex,

the extraordinary and irreplaceable Diana

whose beauty, both internal and external,

will never be extinguished from our minds."

[loud applause]

And I sat and I listened.

And I thought, "Good speech but where were you?

Where were you when she needed you?

Where were you when she wanted sanctuary for her boys?

I couldn't believe the torrent of abuse

which came out of his mouth,

vitriol directed towards the Queen.

I was confused.

"Why would he say that?

Why would he do that in the House of God at his sister's funeral?

Why would he slap the Queen, his godmother?

Why would he do that?"

I looked at the Queen and she looked at me

as if to say, "Mm.

We know the truth."

Unfortunately, the world didn't know the truth.

But we did.

-[woman 1] Charles. -Thank you so much. Thank you.

[woman 2] Harry, I'm so sorry.

[woman 3] William, William.

Thank you so much. Thank you.

Thank you so much.

[press calling out William]

[woman 3] We love you!

[Paul] Then on the royal train with the royal family,

with Charles and Harry and William to North Hampton.

We arrived and had lunch with Earl Spencer in the dinning room.

I sat next to Prince Charles.

Who put me next to Prince Charles?

I have no idea. He talked about the garden.

How wonderful his begonias were this time of the year.

"You really must come down to Highgrove, Paul,

I have never seen the Alliums

with such a color and such a spread across the garden."

I thought, "We are at a funeral here.

We are not on gardener's world."

Someone came in and whispered into Charles Spencer's ear.

He got up.

"Diana's arrived everybody."

So we all got up,

in to the hallway

and the Princess's coffin had just arrived at the front door.

Charles Spencer proceeds down the steps

and they open the back door.

He rips off the royal Standard

and replaces it with the Spencer Standard.

He turns to William and Harry and everyone stood there

and says, "She's a Spencer now."

They lifted her high and took her

on this procession towards the island.

They built a small pond, too, across the lake.

So we all followed across the bridge

to a small clearing where a hole had been dug.

And into the hole,

the soldiers lowered the coffin and then left

and left us stood around

to say a few prayers and to say goodbye.

And I remember Mrs. Shand Kydd standing beside me

and I can see the tears

I'd be wearing her cross and chain which she gave me the night before

and I thought now is a good time to give it back.

So I took it off and gave it to her

and she turned to me and said,

"At least I had her for nine months.

Those nine months, she was mine."

I thought, "What a sad thing for a mother to say

at her daughter's funeral."

"Come on, boys," she said, "leave Paul, leave him here for a little while.

He's got a few things to say. Let him, let him stay for a while."

So Prince Charles and William and Harry, they left the island

and left me standing there.

And I was the last one.

With the sunlight coming through the trees,

I looked down into the hole

and there's a metal plate.

It didn't say, Her Royal Highness, The Princess of Wales,

It said, "Diana, Princess of Wales."

I thought why couldn't they, in the last moment,

have given her back her title.

It wouldn't have hurt anyone

So I picked up some earth and threw it into the hole.

And that's, that's where my life was.

And I could remember begging her saying,

"Why didn't you take me with you?

You should have taken me with you.

Because my reason gone,

I have no place now.

and I knew it,

I knew they'd come for me

because I was the last person

to witness a certain part of history.

My favorite memory of Princess is a very personal one

because I was the only witness to it

and it was a regular occurrence and it used to thrill me.

I used to hear the piano being played in the drawing room.

And the Princess was an accomplished pianist.

Her favorite piece of music was " Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 2,"

which if you were a film historian,

you would know it was played throughout

David Lean's film, Brief Encounter.

One of our favorite films.

We'd sit and watch that black and white movie

with a box of tissues between us.

-What do you believe? -That it's the same with you.

That you have fallen in love, too.

And I would hear these chords and know she was up there.

I'd sneak up the staircase

and peep in through drawing room door

and watch that vision

with wet hair scraped back over her head

and a white toweling robe tied tight, head back

playing "Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto."

That was magic.

When that happened,

when we lost Diana,

the world stopped

just for one brief second.

Everybody took a deep breath in disbelief.

What was that?

If you could distill that essence,

that was Diana.

But it was something more than that.

I think it's what people call

magic.

[slow instrumental music playing]