Hey Everyone,

How are you all? This article is from the latest Australian Women's Day, dated November,25th,2002.

It begins with..A year which promised so much has turned into "Annus horribulus" mark two for the Queen and the Royal family. It started badly with the death of Princess Margaret as well as the Queen Mother. Then things improved temporarily with the amazing success of the Jubilee celebrations. But the extraordinary fallout form the acquittal of Diana's butler Paul Burrell on theft charges has tarnished those memories, plunging the monarchy into its worst crisis since the Princess's death in 1997.

No wonder the Queen burst into tears at the Remembrance day service outside London's Westminister Abbey. Not only had the deaths of her sister and mother finally sunk home, in a case of delayed grief, but she also knew that 2002 is most likely to be remembered for the a serious of embarrassing moments rather than her half century of devoted duty.

Diana continues to haunt the Royal family. According to Journalists who knew her best, Richard Kay of Daily mirror, whenever things went wrong in the Palace. Courtiers would say "Its all Diana's doing...she's out on her broomstick again". At the heart of the scandal are the so-called "Crown jewels" which Diana kept in a monogrammed oak box at Kensington palace, her London home. Police were looking for these explosive belongings when they raided the home of paul Burrell - the man Diana called - "her rock".

So what were the box's content and why were they so dangerous that the Queen and Prince charles were desperate to halt a trial? Most damaging was a tape recording Diana has made, interviewing Royal servant George Smith in 1996. The valent claimed that in 1989, when he was 29 years old, he was raped by a senoir male aide to charles and had to fight off a similiar attack six years later on a Royal trip to Egypt. The servant suffered several nervous breakdowns and developed a drinking problem, as a result fo the horrors he witnessed in the falkland wars which led to his wwife leaving him.

Diana who hated the alleged attacker because of his closeness to Prince charles, told George "You will get over this, I have been through worst". She encouraged him to have a drink and to tell her the details of what happened. He told her about a homosexual encounter between a member of the Royal family and a servant. For years there had been rumors that Prince Edward was gay and had a realtionship with a footman. There were even stories that fergie left Prince Andrew because she came home to find him in bed with a sailor. Neither has been proven to be true. But George Smith was given $100,000 pay off to keep his mouth shut. The box also contains letter from Prince Philip to Diana which he called the Princess a "trollop" and a "harlot" and Fergie a "Whore". There was also a signet ring given to Diana by her lover of five years James Hewitt.

The box also contained official papers about Diana's divorce as well as resignation letters from Diana's private secretary who later betrayed her by writing a book about her life. The police did not find the jewellery box at Paul Burrell's home and its whereabouts are a mystery. But they did find more than 300 other items which once belonged to Diana - and charged him with theft. After the Queen eventually remembered a cinversation in which Paul told her about the items for "safe keeping" he eventually walked free on November 11, in a blaze of publicity.

The Queen did not kill the scandal by doing this, but instead opened a Pandora's box of gossip. She has now told friends, "Charles has really dropped me in it this time". For it was the Prince of Wales who was anxious to stop the trial at all costs, to protect himself and his staff.

Paul Burrell has now also betrayed the Princess of Wales, he has always promised not to reveal any secrets. But recently released to the press that Diana used to ask him to go out and buy porn magazines for Prince William. He has also signed a deal with Daily Mirror for 1.3 million dollars as well as other newspapers to write his story. There was reports that Paul Burrell dressed in Diana's clothes and tried to seduce top entertainer, Micheal Barrymore just days after Di's funeral.

At laest two ex-boyfriend's have come out and told about Paul's double life and gay lifestyle. This secret out in the open has shocked his wife and two sons. Australian Greg Pead has branded him a hypocrite and told of a long affair they had when he was a waitor in Sydney. Many are shocked when Paul burrell called himself Diana's rock and then sell her secrets. Maria Burrell who was a former palace maid and dresser to Diana, says that she knew about his double life and that she felt often that there was three people in their relationship.