With the final countdown to King Charles’ coronation well and truly on, what better way to prepare for the celebrations than to spend the day with a man whose life has been steeped in all things royal – former Buckingham Palace footman Paul Burrell.
Exclusively inviting OK! into the “eclectic” Cheshire home he shares with husband Graham Cooper, Paul – who was also butler to the late Princess of Wales for 10 years – shares his thoughts on the historic occasion and reveals what his beloved Diana would have made of it.
The 64-year-old stepped down as a palace servant some 20 years ago, but he still has royal artifacts dotted around his house, including a stunning signed photograph of Diana by French fashion photographer Patrick Demarchelier, given to him by the princess, and a framed piece of cake from Diana and Charles’ wedding. At the other end of the scale, he also has a comical plastic ornament of Queen Elizabeth II waving, which ticks away throughout our shoot.
So does Paul think Diana would be supportive of her ex-husband Charles and his new wife Camilla being crowned King and Queen, if she were still alive?
“I always think to myself, ‘What would she do in this situation?’ And she would have been at the coronation looking glorious, in her sixties, outshining everyone the way she did,” says Paul, who’s currently starring on I’m A Celebrity… South Africa. “I don’t think she would hold any animosity at all towards her ex-husband or towards her ex-husband’s wife. I think she would have gone on in life and achieved her own ambitions, still being royal and regal.”
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