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The butler says he didn't do it

In a tale that has all the elements of a mystery that only Agatha Christie's Miss Marple could solve the former royal butler Paul Burrell has rejected claims that he boasted about having sex with Princess Diana.

The Australian newspaper reports Mr Burrell said he was "sad and hurt" by claims made by his brother-in-law Ron Cosgrove, who told a British newspaper that the former butler confided to him 15 years ago about his intimate relationship with the princess.

The former butler also denied Mr Cosgrove's claims that Mr Burrell had told him he had seen the Queen naked at Buckingham Palace.

Mr Burrell said there was "not one shred of truth" to what Mr Cosgrove had told the News of the World tabloid and that his brother-in-law could have decided to "invent" the claims because he had refused to lend him money.

"Myself and my wife Maria feel tremendously sad and hurt that he has resorted to such vengeance by way of response," Mr Burrell said.

"Anyone who knows me, who knew the princess, and who understands the boundaries and decencies of royal service, as well as the integrity and trust which existed within our working relationship at Kensington Palace, will know just how fanciful, distasteful and malicious these claims truly are."

In a lengthy interview published yesterday, Mr Cosgrove said Mr Burrell had told him during a conversation in a pub in 1993 about he and Diana "did it in the bedroom, the bath, everywhere".

Mr Cosgrove said Mr Burrell had also claimed to have seen the Queen naked after chasing a royal corgi into her bedroom at Buckingham Palace.

So, the butler did do it

WARNING

Some readers may find the following news report offensive.

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The Australian newspaper's breaking news reports that the former royal butler Paul Burrell boasted to relatives about having secret sex trysts with Princess Diana.

In a sensational newspaper interview published in Britain today, Burrell's brother-in-law Ron Cosgrove revealed how the butler told him in 1993 about how he had bedded the princess while he worked for her at Kensington Palace.

Mr Cosgrove also claimed that Mr Burrell had told him he had accidentally seen the Queen naked and that after Diana's death Mr Burrell asked relatives to hide three bin bags filled with clothes, jewellery and mementos belonging to her.

The 61-year-old furniture dealer said Mr Burrell met him at a Cheshire pub in 1993 and told him that he had been having a sexual relationship with Diana.

"He said they did it in the bedroom, the bath, everywhere,'' Cosgrove told The News of the World.

"He claimed Diana liked to be domineering.

"Paul told me that he'd get a call from Diana in the middle of the night specifically to have sex with her. He said she was very sexually demanding - `a bit xxxxing kinky' were his words - and if you worked for the princess you worked for her 24/7.

"I told him if it was true I was disgusted with him because he was married to my sister and cheating on her with another woman.

"But he didn't see that as a problem. He just replied, `Yes, but it IS the princess.' I was dumbfounded. I couldn't believe what he was telling me.''

Mr Cosgrove said Mr Burrell had also claimed to have seen the Queen naked after chasing a royal corgi into her bedroom at Buckingham Palace.

"He barged in to grab the dog and was greeted by the Queen who was standing there with no clothes on,'' Mr Cosgrove said.

"Her only concern was that the dog would not get its muddy paws on her bedsheets.''

Mr Burrell also was accused by Mr Cosgrove of hiding bag loads of Diana's belongings in an attic and garden shed after her death in a Paris car crash in August 1997.

Mr Cosgrove said Mr Burrell ordered a relative to take three sealed bags from Kensington Palace and "keep them safe and out of the way''.

"The relative later told me Mr Burrell had said there was royal memorabilia in them, like dresses and hats,'' he said.

Mr Burrell was charged in 2001 with stealing 342 items belonging to Diana and her sons Prince William and Prince Harry.

But his trial collapsed after the Queen said she recalled Mr Burrell telling her he had kept some of Diana's belongings for safe-keeping.