DIANA, Princess of Wales, was “chronically suspicious” that people were spying on her, and working for her at Kensington Palace was an “unpredictable experience”, it was suggested at the Old Bailey yesterday.

On one occasion, she asked a secretary to turn out the contents of her handbag because she wrongly suspected that she was carrying a tape recorder inside.

Suggestions of the Princess’s volatility were put to her former comptroller of finances, Michael Gibbins, by Lord Carlile, QC, who is defending her butler, Paul Burrell, on theft charges. Mr Gibbins accepted that he had heard of her suspicious nature and that she could be unpredictable.

Although he had no knowledge of the experience allegedly endured by the secretary, he said: “I can envisage that sort of thing happening, yes.”

Mr Gibbins, who served as administrative head of the Princess’s household in the 12 months before her death, agreed that Mr Burrell worked under excessive pressure in his role as head of the domestic staff. The butler, he said, was distraught after the fatal accident in Paris in August 1997, and staff feared that he might commit suicide.

Mr Gibbins was asked by Lord Carlile: “When the Princess died, Mr Burrell had a very bad time personally, it was obvious?” “Absolutely,” Mr Gibbins replied.

“It is right that you thought, in the days and possibly weeks after the Princess’s death, that Paul Burrell might take his own life?” “That was a concern that I had,” Mr Gibbins replied.

The court was also told that the Prince of Wales ordered staff to seal his former wife’s apartment after her death, but that Mr Gibbins refused.

“Both the Prince of Wales and Stephen Lamport, his private secretary, asked me to ensure that the Princess’s apartments were secured — locked,” Mr Gibbins said. “I did not accede to the request. I did not think it was appropriate and nor did I think it was very feasible.

“I was particularly concerned about Mr Burrell, because his office was in the apartment and he clearly needed access to it. The state of despair he was in — had he been excluded, I don’t think one could have predicted what the conse-quences would have been.”

The witness said that, although Mr Burrell was devoted to the Princess and was the closest of all her staff to her, he believed he may have been planning to leave her. He was earning less than £40,000 a year and believed he could make a better living in the United States.

Lord Carlile said: “He complained he was on call all the time. He was married and, from time to time, expressed frustration about the fact he worked all hours for her?” “Yes,” Mr Gibbins accepted. “His relationship with her was generally a very close one, but there were incidences where the closeness of that relationship did not tend to be as it generally was. There was an instance with the level of expenses which the Princess was not pleased about.

“Mr Burrell asked me to validate a mortgage application for the purchase of a property. He asked me not to tell the Princess. I felt he may be laying the ground for leaving her employment. I think Mr Burrell was aware that, if he wanted to work in the United States, he could command a considerable amount more remuneration than he was receiving here.”

Mr Gibbins said the Princess could be generous with gifts to her staff, although they were not necessarily expensive.

Mr Gibbins, who became a trustee of the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund before returning to private practice as an accountant, said the Princess jealously guarded her private possessions.

On the night of the accident, staff at Kensington Palace learnt from Balmoral of the Princess’s death. “I think everyone was shaken beyond belief,” he said. “I think Mr Burrell was affected far more than anyone else.”

Mr Burrell, 44, denies three counts of theft involving 310 personal possessions belonging to the Princess, the Prince of Wales and Prince William.

Earlier, Lady Jane Fellowes, the Princess’s elder sister, told the jury that permission had never been given to Mr Burrell to remove items from Kensington Palace. But she said he had once helped her, her mother and her sister, Lady Sarah McCorquodale, to carry possessions to their cars for removal from the palace.

The 45-year-old, dressed in a navy blue jacket and polo-neck jumper, would not be drawn on a suggestion that Diana wanted to keep “some distance” between her household and Buckingham Palace. Her husband, Lord Fellowes, was the Queen’s private secretary.

Lord Carlile asked her: “It would be fair to say that your sister wanted to keep some distance between her household and Buckingham Palace?” Lady Jane: “I think that is your interpretation. I am neutral.”

Lady Jane, in a statement to police, identified property belonging to her sister found at Mr Burrell’s house in Farndon, Cheshire, including picture albums, photograph frames and photographic negatives which she said the butler should not have had.

She said that at no time had she been asked by Mr Burrell if he could keep property belonging to her sister.

The trial continues on Monday.

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