The Hindu : An unfamiliar ring to the trial

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Oct 23, 2002

International

International

An unfamiliar ring to the trial

By Hasan Suroor

LONDON OCT 22. In what is turning out to be the season's juiciest soap opera, complete with unexpected twists and turns including an abrupt change of cast, it turns out that a missing ring might have been at the heart of the search that led to the trial of the late Princess Diana's butler, Paul Burrell, for allegedly stealing a treasure trove of her personal effects shortly after her death.

It was a signet ring given to her by her one-time boy friend, Major James Hewitt, and she kept it in a locked box with a few other of her most valuable and secret possessions. There was panic in the family when the box went missing from her Kensington Palace apartment and her sister, Lady Sarah, who is also an executor of Diana's will, suggested to the police that Mr. Burrell might be able to help.

That led to a dramatic raid on his house in January 2001 but while neither the box nor the ring was found the police were surprised to discover that the place was full of Diana `memorabilia' — over 300 items, including jewellery, designer dresses, precious china and private photographs, which Mr. Burrell claimed were gifts from his employer but which Diana's family alleges were stolen after her death in a mysterious car crash in Paris in 1998. The matter of the ring was considered so delicate and potentially `hurtful' to Diana's children, Princes William and Harry, that it was not mentioned openly in the court where Mr. Burrell's trial is going on. A police witness simply said that the missing box contained a very sensitive piece of the late princess's jewellery.

Later, he passed a note to the judge naming the object. The media and the public were told about it after much deliberation.

In another twist, the trial was abruptly halted briefly last week and the jury was discharged for undisclosed reasons. A new jury is now in place and, adding more mystery to the case, a part of Mr. Burrell's evidence has been withheld from public reportedly to protect certain sensitivities.

Among the items found at Mr. Burrell's house are letters revealing a serious rift between Diana and her brother, Earl Spencer, over her wish to go and live on the family's estate after her separation from Prince Charles. The letters show that the Earl first agreed to let her a house on rent but then withdrew the offer citing family reasons. The row led to her slamming down the phone on her brother on one occasion.

The trial, which continues, has attracted unprecedented media attention.

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