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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Entertainment
Rose Hill

Sight of 'frail' Queen is 'very sad', says Princess Diana's former butler Paul Burrell

Paul Burrell has said that he was "sad" to see how "frail" the Queen looked at the weekend.

Princess Diana's former butler, 63, appeared on Lorraine with royal photographer Arthur Edwards as they discussed whether the public would accept Prince Charles' wife Camilla as Queen Consort when he accepts the throne.

It comes after the Queen used Accession Day in her Platinum Jubilee year to express her wish for her daughter-in-law to become Queen Consort.

Asked for his opinion on the news, Paul said: "As you know Lorraine, my royal service has been devoted to Her Majesty and to Princess Diana because 11 years with the Queen and 10 years with Diana, that's quite a time to understand these people.

"I see what the Queen's doing - I know she's preparing a smooth path for the transition of this monarchy to the next monarchy. And yesterday I was very sad because I saw a frail Queen at Sandringham and I was thinking of the times that I was with her and she was strong and fit and healthy and I realised we're coming to the end of this monarchy and she does too."

It comes after Susanna Reid ended up "shutting down" her co-host Richard Madeley on Good Morning Britain after he mentioned Prince Harry and Meghan during a similar debate.

They had been joined by royal correspondent Jack Royston and biographer Angela Levin when Jack said that the "royal family need to show the world that they care and they're not indifferent to Diana's experiences".

He said: "Another aspect of this is that they face similar allegations in relation to Harry and Meghan - the allegation there again is emotional indifference to a person's suffering. So what Charles needs to do now... it's inevitable that Charles is going to do this, there's no way they're going to go back on it, is-"

But Richard interrupted as he said: "Hang on - we've got to finish it there, but come on. There's very little public sympathy, in this country at least, for Harry and Meghan. They are not seen in this country as victims at all - they're seen as moaners, basically, by the vast majority of people-"

Looking awkward, Susanna interrupted: "Let's not get into that particular argument."

As Angela - who has vehemently spoken out against the Duke and Duchess of Sussex in the past - attempted to say something, Susanna cut in: "No, Angela, l'm really sorry, we have to leave it there.

"And that's not because we were starting to talk about Harry and Meghan! It's simply because it's 8.32!"

*Lorraine airs weekdays at 9am on ITV

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