It is no longer possible to scoff at the idea that Diana was murdered

If the Daily Mirror reported the Second Coming, would anyone believe it? Probably not. There is a general view in polite society that the newspaper and its editor, Piers Morgan, are not entirely to be trusted. This may be an opinion based on prejudice, or it may have its roots in solid fact. This week the Mirror has been serialising the new book by Paul Burrell, former butler to Diana, Princess of Wales. My impression is that many people are not taking its revelations completely seriously, particularly Mr Burrell’s claim that ten months before she died Diana predicted the circumstances of her demise. An allegation which might have rocked the nation had it first appeared in the Guardian or the Times has had a limited effect. The other tabloids have been greatly exercised by Mr Burrell’s book, and especially by Diana’s letter, but the broadsheets and the BBC have, for the most part, remained aloof. Incidentally, I seem to have been jumping the gun a little in suggesting last week that the tabloids are growing tired of royal stories.

Mr Burrell has not helped himself. He does not seem to be a very attractive person. Diana certainly had strange taste in men. Mr Burrell is no doubt hoping to make a great deal of money out of his book. He has published letters from the Duke of Edinburgh and others to the Princess, flouting the law of copyright as I have always understood it. Most incredible of all is his unveiling of the letter to him in which the Princess wrote that ‘this particular phase in my life is the most dangerous. —– [name removed by the Daily Mirror on the advice of my learned friends] is planning “an accident” in my car, brake failure and serious head injury in order to make the path clear for Charles to marry.’