Di's butler admits he 'didn't tell the whole truth' at inquest

London, Feb 18 : Princess Diana's butler has confessed on video tape that he did not reveal the whole truth at the inquest into the late royal's death.

The tape may now land Burrell in trouble as he could now face arrest for committing perjury.

In the tape, the former royal butler is candid about the fact that he deliberately misled the coroner, High Court judge Lord Justice Scott Baker, saying: "I was very naughty."

According to British paper The Sun, Burrell admits on tape that he threw in "red herrings" and held back facts during his testimony at the inquest.

Burrell tell a pal: "When you swear an oath, you have to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

"I told the truth as far as I could - but I didn't tell the whole truth. Perjury is not a nice thing to have to contemplate.

"I was very naughty and I made a couple of red herrings, and I couldn't help doing it.

"I know you shouldn't play with justice and I know it's illegal and I realise how serious it is."

When asked if it was wrong to commit perjury, Burrell says: "Maybe I didn't tell the whole truth. Who was it to protect? My own integrity."

"Do you honestly think I've told everything I know? Of course I haven't.

"Do you honestly think I am actually going to sit there in a court of law and tip out my guts and tell them? That's what he wanted me to do - the judge - to actually tell them what I know, all the secrets. No! You know me better than that."

When his friend suggests that Burrell "did a deal" with the Queen to hold back facts about how Di died, he adds: "I sacrificed my own integrity for the bigger picture. No I didn't tell the whole truth. But he put me in the most unenviable position, that coroner. Because he said I had to report the conversation I had with the Queen.

"The conversation with the Queen was three hours long. And I wasn't about to sit there and divulge everything she said to me. I wasn't going do that. I said, 'Do I have to answer that question?' He said, 'Yes, you do'. I said, 'Well, she showed great concern'. That was all I was prepared to say."

On the three-hour tape that was shot in New York, Burrell also says that the only reason he went to the UK for the inquest was because his aides persuaded him that not doing so would hit business badly.

"I contemplated very seriously not going. I really didn't want to go, right up to the last minute," he says on the tape.

"People who do my merchandising brands in America said, 'If you didn't go, its not going to look good for you'."

ANI