CherubimII
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'Burrell said he took ring from Diana's body in Paris mortuary', bodyguard tells inquest
(and burned Diana's letters from the Windsors)
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=537048&in_page_id=1770
Princess Diana's former butler Paul Burrell told his bodyguard he removed a ring from her body as she lay in the mortuary in Paris, an inquest jury heard today.
Michael Faux, a security adviser hired by Mr Burrell said the princess's ex-servant told him he removed the ring from the princess's finger when he attended her body after the crash in 1997. "He said he took it off the body in Paris. He said there was still blood on the ring and he could prove it was hers by DNA," Mr Faux, 44, told the inquest at the High Court in London. (The jury has heard that Diana received a gold Bulgari friendship ring from Dodi Fayed, which she wore on her right hand.)
Mr Burrell is said to have made the devastating confession in a car as the two men were sitting outside Mr Burrell's florist shop in Farndon, Cheshire.
The former butler described the ring as an "engagement ring", the inquest heard.
Mr Faux added: "I told him in not so many words that I was disgusted with him. It did not cross myself that he was making it up. Maybe he felt he wanted to let me know."
Mr Faux, who set up a business with Mr Burrell in 2003, claimed Mr Burrell told him about the ring after his lawyers told him to ask the SAS-trained bodyguard to sign a confidentiality agreement.
Mr Faux, now chief executive of a company called Executive Group Holdings, first met Burrell when he was hired by the Daily Mirror to be his bodyguard after the former aide sold his story.
He was interviewed by police a year ago but was not asked to appear at the inquest, so he decided to volunteer to give evidence today.
He said: "I do however feel duty bound to come forward. For some reason I cannot explain why, I want people to know."
After the contract with the Mirror ended Mr Burrell asked Mr Faux to work with him full-time. They set up a business, splitting the profits 80/20 in 2003.
During this time Mr Faux said he got to know Burrell very well. On one occasion he said Burrell told him he kept items formerly belonging to Princess Diana in a flat above an insurance office next to his home.
He said Burrell once told him he would, "need a truck to move all the jewellery and items there was so much of it".
Mr Faux said Burrell - who was cleared at the Old Bailey of stealing items belonging to Princess Diana, Prince Charles and Princes William and Harry - on one occasion told him he planned to dispose of jewellery by throwing it off a ship.
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Mr Faux told the inquest that he witnessed Burrell "frantically" go to the flat in Cheshire - where a woman called "Maddy" and her teenage son lived - and remove a bin liner full of letters, some with the Buckingham Palace crest on, and burn them in his back garden.
He said: "I was in the house in Farndon and Burrell ran outside to the back of the house. He was quite frantic. He came from next doors house carrying a bin liner that he then set on fire.
"He set fire to it. It was papers. All I could see was papers. I was two metres away while he was doing the burning."
He added: "I could see typed and hand written paper. But I couldn't read it. Some documents appeared to be typed on an old fashioned typewriter."
(The court has heard evidence that all correspondence sent by Prince Philip to Princess Diana was typed on an old fashioned typewriter. )
"I saw him going to and from his house with bin bags full of paperwork that he was taking into the garden to burn and he was making sure it was thoroughly burned," he told the inquest.
Find this story at http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=537048&in_page_id=1770
(and burned Diana's letters from the Windsors)
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=537048&in_page_id=1770
Princess Diana's former butler Paul Burrell told his bodyguard he removed a ring from her body as she lay in the mortuary in Paris, an inquest jury heard today.
Michael Faux, a security adviser hired by Mr Burrell said the princess's ex-servant told him he removed the ring from the princess's finger when he attended her body after the crash in 1997. "He said he took it off the body in Paris. He said there was still blood on the ring and he could prove it was hers by DNA," Mr Faux, 44, told the inquest at the High Court in London. (The jury has heard that Diana received a gold Bulgari friendship ring from Dodi Fayed, which she wore on her right hand.)
Mr Burrell is said to have made the devastating confession in a car as the two men were sitting outside Mr Burrell's florist shop in Farndon, Cheshire.
The former butler described the ring as an "engagement ring", the inquest heard.
Mr Faux added: "I told him in not so many words that I was disgusted with him. It did not cross myself that he was making it up. Maybe he felt he wanted to let me know."
Mr Faux, who set up a business with Mr Burrell in 2003, claimed Mr Burrell told him about the ring after his lawyers told him to ask the SAS-trained bodyguard to sign a confidentiality agreement.
Mr Faux, now chief executive of a company called Executive Group Holdings, first met Burrell when he was hired by the Daily Mirror to be his bodyguard after the former aide sold his story.
He was interviewed by police a year ago but was not asked to appear at the inquest, so he decided to volunteer to give evidence today.
He said: "I do however feel duty bound to come forward. For some reason I cannot explain why, I want people to know."
After the contract with the Mirror ended Mr Burrell asked Mr Faux to work with him full-time. They set up a business, splitting the profits 80/20 in 2003.
During this time Mr Faux said he got to know Burrell very well. On one occasion he said Burrell told him he kept items formerly belonging to Princess Diana in a flat above an insurance office next to his home.
He said Burrell once told him he would, "need a truck to move all the jewellery and items there was so much of it".
Mr Faux said Burrell - who was cleared at the Old Bailey of stealing items belonging to Princess Diana, Prince Charles and Princes William and Harry - on one occasion told him he planned to dispose of jewellery by throwing it off a ship.
Scroll down for more...
Mr Faux told the inquest that he witnessed Burrell "frantically" go to the flat in Cheshire - where a woman called "Maddy" and her teenage son lived - and remove a bin liner full of letters, some with the Buckingham Palace crest on, and burn them in his back garden.
He said: "I was in the house in Farndon and Burrell ran outside to the back of the house. He was quite frantic. He came from next doors house carrying a bin liner that he then set on fire.
"He set fire to it. It was papers. All I could see was papers. I was two metres away while he was doing the burning."
He added: "I could see typed and hand written paper. But I couldn't read it. Some documents appeared to be typed on an old fashioned typewriter."
(The court has heard evidence that all correspondence sent by Prince Philip to Princess Diana was typed on an old fashioned typewriter. )
"I saw him going to and from his house with bin bags full of paperwork that he was taking into the garden to burn and he was making sure it was thoroughly burned," he told the inquest.
Find this story at http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=537048&in_page_id=1770