Royal Butler Believes Princess Diana's Spirit Haunts His Home

A former butler for the British royal family believes the spirit of Princess Diana haunts his home in the English countryside. Paul Burrell appeared on a reality show called Celebrity Help! My House Is Haunted, where he said he feels Princess Diana's ghost has communicated with him since her death in 1997. He spoke with supernatural investigators about his experiences, according to a report by The Mirror.

Burrell lived and worked in the Royal Household when Princess Diana was married to Princes Charles – now King Charles III. After leaving the job, he and his partner Graham Cooper moved to a home in the countryside. This was reportedly about two decades after Princess Diana's death, yet Burrell claims he began to feel signs of her presence there. This mostly came in the form of sounds – usually words spoken in the Princess' voice. He and Cooper also both caught glimpses of "ghostly shadows" around the house.

Burrell and Cooper decided to call paranormal experts after a few encounters, which is how they wound up on this reality show. Investigators brought along special equipment to record the ghostly sounds Burrell and Cooper were hearing. They believe they detected two distinct words: "sorry" and "France." Burrell believed this was a reference to Princess Diana's death in Paris in 1997.

"I don't understand why it would say 'France' other than the fact that the Princess died in France and the fact I went to France to bring her home," Burrell said. "I had been introduced to this world before by the Princess. She was heavily involved in spirituality. Mediums, psychics, astrologers... and I witnessed it from the edges. I watched her and she would giggle afterwards and say 'You don't believe, do you?' and I would say 'Well I'm not sure.'"

"When you have loved someone in life – and I did love her – and they pass very quickly, a little piece of them remains behind and you carry them with you for the rest of your days," he went on. "If my Princess wanted to tell me something, I think she would come to me."

Burrell revealed that Queen Elizabeth II also believed in supernatural phenomena. He said: "Our dear late queen always said that there were ghosts and she said 'I never go to Allt-na-giubhsaich' – Glassalt, the cottage on the lake in Balmoral – 'without the corgis because the corgis sense it before I do. Their hackles go up and they start to growl so I never go without them and I never stay the night there.' Queen Victoria would stay the night there with John Brown. At the time I thought to myself, my goodness Queen Elizabeth II believes in ghosts and she is a very intelligent woman so there must be something there. But I never saw one myself. I never saw one at Kensington Palace, never saw anybody coming down the staircase with their head under their arm. I wasn't tuned in."

Burrell starred in the Season 2 premiere of Celebrity Help! My House Is Haunted, which premiered on Wednesday, Jan. 24. The current season is not streaming in the U.S., but previous seasons are available on Discovery+ and Tubi.