Princess Diana’s Ghost Found Me My Husband, Says Ex Royal Butler Paul Burrell
Paul Burrell and Graham Cooper met in 2007, ten years after Princess Diana's tragic death.
Dec. 28 2024, Published 1:30 p.m. ET
Princess Diana's former butler, Paul Burrell, claimed the late royal's ghost played a key role in introducing him to his now-husband, Graham Cooper.
RadarOnline.com can reveal Burrell, who served Lady Di for a decade, believes the late princess orchestrated the fateful encounter despite the butler never disclosing his sexuality to her.
Ex-royal butler Paul Burrell believes Princess Diana helped him and his husband meet.
Burrell and Cooper met in 2007, ten years after Princess Diana's tragic death.
During his recent appearance on the "What If?" podcast, Burrell described the moment as a "sliding doors moment" on a train journey from London Euston to Crewe. He recalled locking eyes with Cooper, a corporate lawyer, and feeling an unmistakable connection.
Paul Burrell was Princess Diana's butler for a decade.
The former royal butler shared: "I was on a train coming from London. Euston to Crewe. And on that train, down the other end of the carriage, was a man who smiled at me. That's all. I just looked down the aisle, and he smiled, and I thought, 'Oh, what just happened then? Something happened'.
"So I didn't speak to him the whole journey, it's an hour and a half to Crewe, he started to get off at Crewe - got his briefcase down and a coat, and I thought, 'Oh wow, what if he gets off the train and it's sliding doors and I'll never see him again in my life?'
Acting on what he believed was a nudge from Princess Diana's spirit, Burrell approached Cooper at the end of the journey to ask for his business card.
"I think she sent him. Yes. To take care of me," Burrell said, attributing the meeting to the Princess's unseen influence.
Paul Burrell never told Princess Diana his sexuality.
At the time of his fateful encounter, Burrell had not publicly come out as gay and was still married to his wife, Maria Cosgrove, with whom he has two sons. However, Burrell revealed that he and Princess Diana shared an unspoken understanding about his sexuality during his time in her service.
When the podcast's host Lorraine Kelly asked whether Diana knew he was gay, the former butler said: "I did fabulous flower arrangements, I chose the right dress for the right occasion, I knew which jewels and shoes, heels or no heels, stockings or no stockings, come on.
"We had an understanding, and so I was safe, and she was safe. So it didn't matter in our world."
Princess Diana died on August 31, 1997.
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During the podcast, Burrell also spoke about how his marriage to Cosgrove came to an end.
He said: "Maria gave me my two children, you know I still love her to this day. But things happened when Diana died, our world fell apart. And truths came to the surface, as often does after death and things, and a tragedy in a family."
Burrell announced he was marrying his now-husband in 2017, a year after his marriage ended.
