William's letters 'found at butler's house'
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Notes from Diana, Princess of Wales, to Prince William addressed to "my darling wombat" and a consoling letter from his nanny after his parents' separation were among hundreds of items stolen by her former butler Paul Burrell, the Old Bailey was told yesterday.
Olga Powell, who had been nanny to Princes William and Harry for nearly 10 years when the Princess died in 1997, said there was no reason why such "very personal" items should be in Mr Burrell's possession.
Mr Burrell is accused of stealing nearly 300 items from the Princess's estate while helping her family sort out her belongings at her apartments in Kensington Palace, and storing them at his Cheshire home.
Giving evidence yesterday, Ms Powell said she wrote to Prince William, then aged 10, in 1992, to console him, after his parents announced they were splitting up. She said a note from Diana calling William "wombat" was typical of letters she would send him at school.
The Prince was "very conscientious" about looking after his letters and she could not think of any reason why Mr Burrell should have them, she told the court. She accepted Mr Burrell's children were "playmates" with the Princes but Ms Powell said she had been unaware they were often given the Princes' hand-me-downs.
Earlier, the court was told that the broadcaster and disc jockey Paul Gambaccini had found a "surprising" lack of pop music when he had helped catalogue the Princess's record collection after her death. But he said that earlier this year police had shown him another collection allegedly found at Mr Burrell's home that included mainstream pop artists that were "just the type I thought I was going to be shown earlier".
Mr Burrell, 44, of Farndon, Cheshire, has pleaded not guilty to stealing from Diana's estate, from the Prince of Wales and from Prince William. The case continues.