Burrell trial exhibits removed from court

Hundreds of exhibits from the ill-starred trial of royal butler Paul Burrell were removed from Court One of the Old Bailey today – amid speculation about what would happen to them next.

It is still unclear who will lay claim to the property, which was seized when police raided Mr Burrell’s house in Farndon, Cheshire, in January 2001.

During Mr Burrell’s trial, the jury of seven men and five women were shown dozens of photographs showing the items, which included dresses, shoes and hats once worn by Diana, Princess of Wales, as well as a pair of her pyjamas, and highly personal letters from her to Prince William.

There were family albums of photographs going back to Diana’s own childhood and thousands of negatives – including snaps taken of Prince William and Prince Harry’s early years.

As in every case, exhibits are first taken back to the police station where the investigation started.

It was the special inquiry team from the Serious Crime Group at Scotland Yard which led the raid on Mr Burrell’s home, and the hundreds of items are expected to be taken there initially.

The trial was halted on Friday after it emerged that while following the progress of the trial, the Queen wondered about the relevance of Mr Burrell having told her that he had taken some of Diana’s papers for safekeeping.

She confided in the Prince of Wales and he informed police.

The revelation fatally undermined the prosecution’s case, which was based on the claim that Mr Burrell had removed Diana’s belongings without telling anyone, and he was cleared of three counts of theft involving items which had belonged to Diana, the Prince of Wales, and Prince William.

The Queen’s 11th-hour intervention came at a critical point in the trial as Mr Burrell was on the verge of giving evidence.

He was expected to spend about two days in the witness box explaining why he had the 310 items at his Cheshire house.

The jury has yet to be discharged by the trial judge, Mrs Justice Rafferty. She is expected to do so during the week.