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Burrell 'never had rape case tape'
LONDON, England (CNN) -- Former royal butler Paul Burrell says he never possessed a tape his employer Princess Diana recorded in which one of her husband's servants described how he was allegedly raped by another aide. The allegations -- and accusations that the royals may have covered it up -- set the tabloids into full swing on Monday, as aides to Prince Charles, the heir to Britain's throne, went into emergency meetings to work out a response. The recent trial of Burrell -- who had been charged with stealing hundreds of items belonging to Diana, Charles and their son Prince William -- brought the allegations into the spotlight. Burrell walked free after the case against him collapsed when a statement from Queen Elizabeth confirmed he had told her he was removing some items. During the trial, prosecutors asked Burrell about the tape, which has since disappeared. There is no dispute over whether the tape was recorded, but what happened to it is not clear. (Q & A) At a news conference Monday in New York, where Burrell is currently travelling, he said: "The clear implication was in court that these items were in my possession. They never have been." Burrell was paid about £300,000 ($477,000) by the Daily Mirror to share his stories, including that of the tape. He insisted on Monday he had not made anything up. "Telling my story was never about money -- only about truth and justice," Burrell said. "That's what all this is about -- truth." He said his acquittal on charges of stealing hundreds of items of property from the royal family had ended 21 months of "hell" for him and his family. "Before all this we were a happy normal family, just getting on with our lives. We've been to hell and back. But no one, even to this day, has said sorry. "Nor do we say sorry to anyone for setting the record straight. I've no regrets for a single word I've said because I've told the truth, I will defend my reputation." On Monday calls grew for an independent inquiry into the way Buckingham Palace handled the rape allegation, which was initially dealt with as an internal inquiry rather than being reported to the police.
Labour MPs were urging, the UK Press Association reported, that a senior retired judge or former civil servant be appointed to lead an investigation. Royal watcher Robert Jobson told CNN said it was not clear why the royals failed to bring in the police when they investigated the alleged rape incident in 1996. "The questions here are about Prince Charles' judgment," Jobson said on Monday. "The police should have been called in at the stage when there was a serious allegation. The fact that they only found out later is very damaging to the royal family." The alleged rapist was not identified but his victim, ex-valet and Falklands veteran George Smith, 42, voluntarily named himself and elaborated on the incident in the Mail on Sunday. This led the alleged attacker to issue a denial through his solicitors. An potentially even more damaging revelation in the Mail on Sunday was of an alleged "incident" involving a member of the royal family and a palace servant. The paper said it was prevented from repeating the allegations for legal reasons. CNN's Nic Robertson said royal officials were maintaining that Smith, who suffered stress disorder over his role in the Falklands conflict, was "not the best witness in this case." A St. James's Palace spokesman told CNN: "All of George Smith's claims are wholly inaccurate." Meanwhile, an opinion poll was released showing that two-thirds of the British public believe the queen and Prince of Wales intervened in the Burrell trial to prevent embarrassing revelations emerging in the witness box.
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