Burrell claim says Diana feared brake-tampering plot

Ex-royal butler Paul Burrell pledged today to reveal the truth about Diana, Princess of Wales following a sensational new claim that she told him of a plot to kill her in a road accident.

According to Mr Burrell, Diana wrote to him 10 months before she died, claiming there was a plan to tamper with the brakes of her car.

The Princess’s former butler and confidant has written a book, on sale next week, and in today’s Daily Mirror released a copy of the handwritten letter.

Diana said her life was at its “most dangerous” phase and that someone, whose name the newspaper blacked out for legal reasons, was planning “an accident”.

The letter said: “This particular phase in my life is the most (the word most is underlined) dangerous.

“(Word here blacked out) is planning ‘an accident’ in my car, brake failure and serious head injury in order to make the path clear for Charles to marry.”

The letter is certain to fuel conspiracy theorists who refuse to accept the official version of the circumstances surrounding her death.

Diana and Dodi Fayed were killed early on the morning of August 31, 1997, when a Mercedes driven by chauffeur Henri Paul crashed in the Pont D’Alma tunnel in Paris.

A French inquiry in 1999 blamed Mr Paul, concluding he had taken a cocktail of drink and drugs and was driving too fast.

Mr Burrell, who was cleared last year of theft charges, said: “Over the last six years, and particularly in the last 11 months since my trial ended at the Old Bailey, I have had time to reflect on the extraordinary events that I have witnessed.

“During that time I have watched and listened as many individuals have claimed to know the truth about the Princess.

“I know that what was claimed to be the truth is actually far from it.

“I decided to write this book because I firmly believe that someone has to stand in the Princess’s corner and fight for her now that she cannot do so herself.

“I will always remain true to my duty. I served the Royal Family for almost 20 years, first the Queen, then the Prince of Wales and finally Princess Diana and I remain a loyal subject.

“However, I believe the people of Britain and the wider world who loved the Princess deserve to know the truth about her life.”

In the letter, Diana went on to write about how she had been “battered, bruised and abused mentally by a system for 15 years now” but that she felt no resentment or hatred.

She said she had “cried more than anyone will ever know” but that her “inner strength” never let her down and she would “never surrender”.

Mr Burrell told the Daily Mirror: “With the benefit of hindsight, the content of that letter has bothered me since her death.”

He said he released the letter to the newspaper in the hope that it would lead to a British inquest and a “thorough investigation of the facts by the British authorities”.

No date for an inquest has yet been announced.