DIANA, Princess of Wales, sold unwanted and out-ofseason clothes from her huge collection to second-hand shops and then hoarded the proceeds in a desk drawer, the Old Bailey was told yesterday.

Her resourcefulness was disclosed at the trial of Paul Burrell, her butler, where it was said that the thousands of pounds she raised paid for visits to the cinema and trips abroad.

Before selling them at a fraction of their value, she removed the identification tags.

Michael Gibbins, financial comptroller and head of her household, was said to have been astonished when the Princess unexpectedly presented him with the cash.

Mr Burrell, 44, who is accused of stealing more than 300 items from the Princess, the Prince of Wales and Prince William, told detectives that he was sent to the second-hand shops to collect the proceeds, which she then kept in her desk.

His statement about her selling discarded items from her wardrobe was read out in court by William Boyce, QC, for the prosecution. He said: “She used it for everyday items like going to the cinema, magazines, shopping expeditions and trips abroad.”

Mr Boyce claimed that Mr Burrell was not as close to the Princess as he maintained and that his career was less secure than he thought. The butler, who claimed to enjoy a special relationship with her, was actually insecure and complained about his low salary, the court was told.

Mr Boyce said that Mr Gibbins would testify that Mr Burrell might not have been able to rely on long-term employment even if the Princess had not been killed in a road accident in Paris in 1997. This suggestion conflicts with the butler’s claim in a police statement that he was her closest confidant and knew all her secrets. Mr Boyce told the jury: “There was a closeness, but it may not have been entirely as Mr Burrell has described.”

Describing the forthcoming evidence of Mr Gibbins, he added: “He had no certainty that Mr Burrell’s employment could be regarded as a long-term prospect had she not been tragically killed. Mr Burrell, for example, applied for a mortgage without the knowledge of the Princess and bemoaned his low salary. He thought he could get a much higher salary if he went to work in America.”

Mr Gibbins would give evidence that the Princess maintained good relations with her staff and was generous with presents but that she could be “sometimes unpredictable”, Mr Boyce said. “Staff were not allowed to get too close. Their employment could be terminated if that happened.” The Princess kept a close interest in the way her household was run and expressed displeasure if expenditure was not kept under control.

Mr Burrell, 44, who became butler to the Prince and Princess of Wales in 1987 and remained with her after their separation, denies three counts of theft involving 284 items of her property, four of the Prince’s and 22 of Prince William’s. Mr Boyce related an incident shortly after the death of the Princess in which Mr Burrell was observed by police removing a wooden box and two evening dresses from the Palace at 3.30am. He claimed to have permission from her sister, Lady Sarah McCorquodale, who wanted the property destroyed discreetly.

But Mr Boyce said that Lady Sarah would dispute that claim in her evidence. He said that she told police: “He should not be at Kensington Palace in the early morning and should not be removing property in that way.” He added: “In her view, Mr Burrell was only asked to dispose of the clothing worn at the time of death by the Princess.”

The court was told that police went to Mr Burrell’s home in Farndon, Cheshire, on January 18 last year looking for a “very sensitive” piece of jewellery. Detective Sergeant Roger Milburn told the court he believed that a small oak box containing the jewellery and some letters, last seen in the Princess’s sitting room in Kensington Palace before her death, had gone missing.

Asked to describe the piece, Mr Milburn hesitated and asked if he could write it down. Mrs Justice Rafferty looked at what he had written on a piece of paper and it was not read out in open court. Mr Milburn said that he believed the box had also held letters from the Duke of Edinburgh.

Mr Burrell told them he had last seen the box in the sitting room at Kensington Palace and had not removed it.

Some excerpts from the police statement that Mr Burrell made about his relationship with the Princess were read secretly by the jury. The judge, Mrs Justice Rafferty, has ruled that the public and press should not hear sensitive passages, to protect Prince William and Prince Harry.

Mr Burrell told police that he had signed a confidentiality agreement with the Palace and had made a declaration under the Official Secrets Act. In reportable sections of the statement he said that he had been present during private conversations between the Princess and the Prince. But he told police that he felt unable to recount such private matters either to investigating officers or in court.

Questioned about why he had private photographs belonging to her at his home, he said that she had asked him to “not let them get into the wrong hands”. He told police: “I feared at the time of the Princess’s death that there was a conspiracy to change the course of history and erase certain parts of the Princess’s life from it.”

The trial continues.

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