Clicking on banner ads enables JWR to constantly improve
Jewish World Review Nov. 10, 2003 / 15 Mar-Cheshvan, 5764

Mitch Albom

Mitch Albom
JWR's Pundits
World Editorial
Cartoon Showcase

Mallard Fillmore

Michael Barone
Mona Charen
Linda Chavez
Ann Coulter
Greg Crosby
Larry Elder
Don Feder
Suzanne Fields
Paul Greenberg
Bob Greene
Betsy Hart
Nat Hentoff
David Horowitz
Marianne Jennings
Michael Kelly
Mort Kondracke
Ch. Krauthammer
Lawrence Kudlow
Dr. Laura
John Leo
David Limbaugh
Michelle Malkin
Chris Matthews
Michael Medved
MUGGER
Kathleen Parker
Wes Pruden
Sam Schulman
Amity Shlaes
Tony Snow
Thomas Sowell
Cal Thomas
Jonathan S. Tobin
Ben Wattenberg
George Will
Bruce Williams
Walter Williams
Mort Zuckerman

Consumer Reports

The butler did it! (But do we care?)


http://www.NewsAndOpinion.com | DALLAS I entered the green room where the TV guests wait, and there, sitting in a chair, his collar unbuttoned, his face a bit pale, was Princess Di's butler.

Paul Burrell has been all over the news lately. He has penned a book about his life alongside the most famous woman in the world, including a letter she supposedly wrote suggesting someone might have her killed in a car crash.

The book has made him both reviled and celebrated. It is certainly making him money.

"You've got a tie on," he said.

I looked down. Yes, I confirmed, I did.

"They told me casual. No tie."

I shrugged. We were both guests on the same TV show. It is the first time, I believe, that I have outdressed a butler.

Burrell had several people with him, including his co-writer and a publicity person from the publishing house.

"You're by yourself?" he said.

I'm not an entourage guy.

"I've seen your book," he said.

I said I had seen his, too.

Donate to JWR

Now, I have never been much on British royalty. To me, the soap opera of the royal family is simply England's boredom with its lousy TV programs.

But I do admit, standing there next to him, I was intrigued. Here was a guy, chatting me up about ties, who not so long ago was chatting up Princess Di about her love life. She shared everything with him: her difficulties with Prince Charles, her divorce, her suitors. She once even called him "the captain of my ship - I am safe with you at the helm."

You wonder what Charles made of that.

Burrell, the butler, said his children grew up with Diana's sons, the little princes, William and Harry. Now, back in England, Harry and William were calling Burrell's book "a cold and overt betrayal."

"Yes, well," Burrell told me, "they were too young to understand what was going on. When I get a chance to talk with them, I will explain."

He also noted that since the princes' statement, "my book sales have shot up. We're at 455,000 copies in England and it hasn't even come out yet!"

At that moment, he sounded less like a butler than a salesman.

He gave me a copy of the book, and later I read it. It is mostly a tribute to "the Boss," as he called her, with familiar compliments about her beauty, her courage, her selflessness.

The controversial letter is a tiny part of the story. But he had to know it would be all anyone talked about. Did Diana predict her death? Was she murdered? It has "made for tabloid" written all over it.

Now, it's hard for me to believe someone orchestrated Diana's demise, her late-night ride along a Paris highway, the drunken driver, the crash. Burrell asks why there has been no official inquiry? I asked if he had this letter all these years, why didn't he come forward sooner?

"I couldn't," he said. He didn't trust the police or the press. He wasn't sure if he could trust the royal family, since he had been charged - but ultimately acquitted by the queen - of stealing mementos from his former boss.

"Put yourself in my shoes," he said.

Well, that's the problem. I can't. I would never devote my life to a princess, to run when she said run, to fetch when she said fetch. I would never leave my family to be with hers. Burrell called it an "honor" and "a duty."

I'd call it a really tough job.

I listened to him talk about his late-night heart-to-hearts with Diana. I read how he brought a black dress and shoes to the morgue the night she died. I heard that he was unemployable after his trial.

Honestly, I'm not sure what to make of him. Maybe he really was the captain of her ship. Maybe he's just cashing in. All I know is, for one moment last week, he was a man without a tie, trying to hang onto the thing that made him special.

Enjoy this writer's work? Why not sign-up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.



Comment on JWR contributor Mitch Albom's column by clicking here. You may purchase his latest book, "The Five People You Meet in Heaven", by clickingHERE. (Sales help fund JWR.)

Up

10/27/03: Parsley, sage, rosemary and time
10/13/03: The Kobe case: There are no winners
10/07/03: Tough choices in the not-so-amazing race
11/05/02: Everything is a billboard, even the cops
10/29/02: Nowhere to hide ... even at 40,000 feet
10/22/02: The pen isn't mightier than good sense
10/15/02: We turn our serial killers into celebrities
10/02/02: In Minnesota Vikings star receiver's view, he's king, you're dirt
09/26/01: The feds don't feel their pain
09/18/01: Some cling to life, others give it away
09/12/01: Worshipping a false 'Idol'
11/14/01: Patriotism is no excuse for stupidity
10/30/01: Dr. Dre: champ for First Amendment!
10/23/01: Terror is sugar-free
10/16/01: The army of the in-between
10/11/01: New war begins with delivery of darkness
10/08/01: Give peace a chance?
10/01/01: If this is supposed to make us feel secure, it isn't working
09/28/01: And our flag is still there
09/26/01: On the road to Ohio, life's little joys return
09/25/01: Our challenge: Not to change who we are
09/17/01: We can learn plenty from the horror
08/31/01: Back to school: Revenge of the boomers
08/22/01: The price of connectedness
08/16/01: An anniversary without celebration
07/31/01: Wanna name my kid? Pay me a cool Mil' --- OK, a half-mil'
07/25/01: Hey, there's no television on my ice floe!
07/10/01: When nobody knew what a Heisman was
07/02/01: Business opportunities for the empathy-impaired
06/25/01: Bunker mentality: At least Archie's meanness was satire
06/18/01: Famous fathers, eat your hearts out
06/05/01: 'No comment' on Bush twins is hard to swallow
05/30/01: Veteran scratches out the hatred
05/22/01: O.J.'s genius
05/15/01: No more kidding around
05/01/01: Haunted by the past
04/24/01: I WANTED TO BELIEVE
04/16/01: Before you file that extension...
04/11/01: Ever want to break an airport agent's neck? This guy did!
04/03/01: The best role models aren't on TV
03/26/01: CAN YOU GET ANY MORE ATTENTION THAN THIS!?
03/19/01: 'March madness' is aptly named
03/07/01: I'm sorry, I apologize, I beg your forgiveness
03/05/01: Young fans' web sites become a Big Harry deal

© 2003 DFP