Windsors & Losers

Ah... another week, another round of scintillating royal headlines. This week, Kate gets papped — what does it mean? A royal chef spills the beans on King Charles's food preferences as a father, Prince Harry settles a major lawsuit coincidentally during a bad press cycle, and Prince William does — what else? — a spot of football watching. Plus, a grocer vies for a royal warrant and Princess Anne reflects on her recent accident. All this and more in Windsors & Losers Weekly.

Prince William reveals himself to be an anonymous contributor to online soccer forums! King Charles writes a letter for a time capsule, which lucky people will be able to read... in 100 years. Princess Kate (possibly) continues to check out more schools for Prince George. Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh, has a special milestone birthday celebrated in true royal style with a glowing profile in a London broadsheet. And Meghan and Harry get the cover story they never asked for.

The final act of Paul Burrell's 2002 trial for the theft of Princess Diana's belongings comes to a highly dramatic conclusion. We rejoin Paul at London's Old Bailey court to find out who from the Windsor clan came to his rescue. Join us as we wrap up the improbable tale of the man who went from a childhood in a small English mining town to the soaring heights of Kensington Palace at the side of Princess Diana — and then down again to the criminal courts of London. But that wasn’t the end for Paul…

King Charles's former Welsh bolthole gains artistic new tenants, and they're opening the mansion to the public — for a price. Prince Edward gets tapped to attend Jimmy Carter's funeral, which may or may not be payback after the former President pissed off the Queen Mother a couple decades back. William and Kate show unexpected (and unprecedented, for them?) emotion on social media, and we welcome a new round of controversy over royal documents.

When the police showed up at Paul Burrell’s door on the morning of January 18th, 2001, they were looking for information on a valuable object stolen from Princess Diana’s estate and sold at auction in London. Police had reason to believe Paul knew something about this — but what they were not expecting was an attic crammed “wall to wall” with Diana’s belongings. The police found private family photos, letters, art, china, and even a signed photograph of Baywatch star David Hasselhoff. Paul claimed they were gifts from Diana. The Spencer family begged to differ, and Prince Charles just wanted the whole matter to go away.

King Charles is getting a commemorative bust described by the artist as “thoughtful.” Princess Michael of Kent didn’t let two broken wrists stop her from attending royal holiday festivities. The Royal Family faces more scrutiny over their finances, and — oh yeah! — Meghan’s trailer is out. We have opinions on it all.

Every time we come to Princess Diana and Dodi Al-Fayed 1997 trip to Paris in 1997, we hope the ending changes. But… it does not. For Diana’s uber-butler Paul Burrell, the loss of Diana was catastrophic on a personal and professional level. In this third episode of Windsors and Losers’s season on Paul Burrell, we pick back up with Paul in the aftermath of Diana’s death as he handles the grim logistics of her burial. As time goes on, Paul is forced to confront the fact he is not the sole keeper of her legacy — and his behavior raises eyebrows (and suspicions) within the Spencer family. A recipe for disaster…

We arrive in 1987, the year butler Paul Burrell left Queen Elizabeth II’s service to work for Charles and Diana at their country home Highgrove. But before setting off, Paul receives a mysterious warning from the Queen’s lady-in-waiting Lady Susan Hussey, who told him “all is not as it seems” with the Prince and Princess of Wales. What on earth did that mean? Paul soon learned all was not well with the Waleses, especially when a certain name started popping up on the Highgrove guest list with regularity. As Camilla Parker Bowles comes onto the scene, Paul moves with Diana, William, and Harry back to London… to assume his role at the center of her new, independent world.

Princess Diana’s longtime butler Paul Burrell was there for the big royal moments of the ‘80s and ‘90s, from Diana and Charles’s wedding to the births of William and Harry, the breakdown of the Wales marriage, and Diana’s transformation into a global celebrity. He became known as “Diana's rock" (a moniker he may, actually, have given himself) and claimed to know many of her darkest secrets. He was also, tragically, the man who selected her outfit and accompanied her back from Paris on her final journey home. But the story of Paul Burrell took on a life of its own after his boss’s death. He was arrested for stealing hundreds of Diana's private belongings. And although he was later exonerated by Queen Elizabeth II herself, his legacy is far from the platonic ideal of a butler who sees all — and never tells. In episode one of our series on Paul Burrell, we explore his rags-to-riches tale, starting with his early years as servant-in-training and time as QEII’s personal butler.

Windsors & Losers Weekly is up-to-date on the latest antics from the house of Windsor, starting with a staff party at Buckingham Palace which saw one housemaid end the night in a holding cell. Plus, the latest from Prince Andrew and Fergie's long string of questionable decisions, Princess's Anne's connection to the Milan runways, and Princess Diana's baby brother reflects happily and unhappily on their childhood holidays. Merry-ish Christmas to all!