The Queen was ‘more concerned about blood on her bed sheets than her own safety’ when intruder Michael Fagan broke into her Buckingham Palace bedroom in July 1982, a former servant to the royal household has claimed.
Paul Burrell, 62, who served as a footman for the Queen and later butler to Diana for 10 years until her death in 1997, appeared on Channel 4’s Steph’s Packed Lunch today.
He spoke of the time when Mr Fagan, then 33, scaled the Palace’s 14ft parameter wall for the second time in two months, shinned up a drain pipe and climbed through an unlocked window.
Speaking of the Queen’s reaction at the time, Paul explained: ‘She said: ‘I was fast asleep and then I suddenly heard somebody come into my room. I felt pressure on my bed – someone sat on the bed.”
‘She said: ‘I thought it was Peggy coming to wake me up, but Peggy doesn’t sit on my bed. I switched on the light and there’s a man, and he’s clutching a broken ashtray and he’s bleeding onto my sheets.’
‘She was more concerned about her sheets being spoiled than she was for her own safety. Practical the queen.’
Paul Burrell appeared on Channel 4’s Steoh’s Packed Lunch today and claimed the Queen was ‘more concerned about blood on her bed sheets than her own safety’ when intruder Michael Fagan broke into her Buckingham Palace bedroom in July 1982. Pictured, Her Majesty attends the Commonwealth Day Service 2020 on March 09, 2020 in London
The former servant to the royal household (pictured) spoke of the time when Mr Fagan, then 33, scaled the Palace’s 14ft parameter wall for the second time in two months, shinned up a drain pipe and climbed through an unlocked window
Michael Fagan, 70, who broke into the Queen ‘s Buckingham Palace bedroom in 1982 has criticised Netflix for ‘having a pop at the Queen’. Pictured, in 2006 (left) and in 1982
He continued: ”She said: ‘I pressed my button and eventually the policeman came and took him away.’
‘I said, ‘Why was he there?’ and she said: ‘I asked him that and he said he’d come to talk to me about his wife. She said, ‘I don’t think you’re the person you should be speaking too!’
During the episode, presenter Steph McGovern went on to ask Paul why he thinks the Netflix show has caused such an uproar.
‘I think it’s the Diana years has caused the controversy,’ he explained. ‘You have to remember when you’re watching it, you’re not watching a documentary, you’re watching a dramatisation – but there’s a ribbon of truth that runs through it.’
Paul (pictured) warned that while watching The Crown, you ‘have to remember when you’re watching it, you’re not watching a documentary, you’re watching a dramatisation – but there’s a ribbon of truth that runs through it’
‘As a viewer, you have to work out what’s true, and what’s false. I don’t have to do that – these are my years. I was there, I witnessed it first-hand and was a part of it.
‘So when I sat and binge-watched all of it, I realised some of it is true, but some of it is wide off the mark. There is a danger here of a script writer re-writing history.’
When presenter Steph asked whether he thinks that matters, Paul replied: ‘It matters to the reputation of the royal family and of course, Diana.
‘I feel that she struggled so long and hard for what she achieved and that shouldn’t be altered by a script writer. The truth should shine through.’
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Steph went on to ask the former royal servant what he thinks Princess Diana would’ve made of Netflix’s The Crown.
‘I think she would’ve been gobsmacked by the whole process of being portrayed in a movie on television,’ he explained. ‘The drama that you’re seeing on The Crown, she wouldn’t have recognised some of it.’
Her Majesty’s former personal footman went on to discuss what he referred to as the most controversial part of the Netflix show – the Princess of Wales’ bulimia sequences.
‘They showed it in very graphic detail,’ said Paul. ‘There’s a way of doing that without showing the actual event itself.
‘She would’ve wanted to raise awareness for that particular disorder because she suffered with it throughout her life.’
She used to say to me: ‘My old friend came back knocking at the door again.’ For her, that was her only way of gaining control of her life.’
Host Steph also picked out elements of The Crown and asked Paul to give his take on whether they were fact or fiction.
Speaking of Charles’ cruelty to Princess Diana, Paul claimed: ‘I’m afraid that’s fact. She said to me, ‘I thought when I married him he would be there for me to support me, support me and comfort me – but he wasn’t.’
‘He did do cruel things. He said to her one day when she came down the stairway and was wearing a beautiful tartan dress. He was talking to some people by the door and she said, ‘Charles do you like my dress? I’ve had it made especially for this visit.’
He turned around and looked at her and said: ‘Well you look like a British Caledonian air stewardess.’ Then continued talking to the people he was with.
‘He was jealous of her popularity. Her star rose, and his didn’t. She was far more popular than he was – and he didn’t like…I witnessed it first-hand, the upset behind closed doors, the in-fighting, the problems that Diana had and then she of course, would turn to Bulimia.’
Steph also questioned whether there was any truth in the portrayal of the Queen’s ‘cold’ relationship with Prince Philip.
‘That’s wrong,’ said Paul. ‘I was with the Queen from 1976-1987 and I can tell you Her Majesty is a warm kind, generous Christian lady.
She adores Prince Philip. They do have a mutual union. They are husband and wife behind scenes. The coldness is wrong.
‘That’s what you see on the outside – you see the Queen in her role as monarch – and she takes it very seriously. Behind closed doors, she’s a different person – and that’s not what came across in The Crown. She’s a lovely person.
‘And the sleeping arrangements – all of that business about the Queen going to one end and Prince Philip going to the other end – that didn’t happen. They had a joint bedroom in the middle. They have a very secure marriage. He’s been there for the Queen all these years and he is her rock.’
Next up, Steph asked whether Princess Diana had a crash course in royal etiquette – as shown in the Netflix series.
Paul Burrell served as a footman for the Queen and later butler to Diana for 10 years until her death in 1997. Pictured, Paul with Diana in 1997
‘Not true,’ said Paul. ‘Princess Diana was pushed in at the deep end and told to swim. There isn’t a rule book that royals are given when they’re incoming. It’s a sort of ‘feel your way’ and make your own mistakes.
‘Is it any wonder that poor Meghan didn’t survive when she went in to the family? She went in as an American, divorced, mixed race actress – my goodness, she went in with a lot of baggage.’
Speaking of why the Duchess of Sussex may have had a struggle, Paul continued: ‘I think because the Queen and Prince Philip and members of royal family are busy doing what they have to do.
‘They’re too busy working to worry about every other single member of royal family. They’re left to get on with it. People coming into the family just have to make the best of it they can.’
And asked what he think Princes William and Harry will make of The Crown, Burrell said: ‘Prince Harry has just signed a deal with Netflix, the people making The Crown. He obviously knew they were making The Crown before this happened and he obviously knew they’d come to the Diana years.
‘I don’t know whether he’ll have any input behind the scenes, maybe he will, maybe he’ll be able to influence this. I don’t think the royals will be very happy with the portrayal they’re hearing about – they won’t watch it – because it’s a twist on reality.’
Steph’s Packed Lunch, 12.30pm on Channel 4
