Former servant of the British household and butler to Diana Paul Burrell invalidated Prince Harry’s claims of not asking to keep his mother’s ring in his book “Spare”.
Reportedly, after the death of Diana in 1997, both her sons William and Harry asked for some of her things to remember her by. Prince William chose his mother’s Cartier watch while Prince Harry chose her 12-carat oval-cut Sapphire engagement ring.
In the book “Spare”, Harry claimed that these reports were “absolutely rubbish” and said that Prince William was already in possession of their mother's ring when he proposed to Kate Middleton in 2010 which means that he was never asked to part with it.
However, Diana’s butler claimed to be present at the spot when the brothers selected the items to remember their mother by. “Harry said to me, ‘I always remember holding mummy's hand and that ring hurting me because it was so big.’
And that's why, when the boys came to Kensington Palace, I said to them, you must take something of your mother's, you must take something to remind yourself of your time here at Kensington Palace and your mother's life.”
He said that William chose the Cartier watch while Harry chose the ring. What they chose were the two very simple things really - a ring and a watch. Not fantastic jewels. But they meant something to the boys, said Paul.
On the other hand, Harry, denying asking for the ring wrote in his book “I never gave Willy that ring because it wasn’t mine to give. He already had it. He'd asked for it after Mummy died, and I'd been more than happy to let it go.”
Harry, showing his anger said that Paul made his “blood boil” when he released a book about her following her death. He also said Paul Burrell was 'milking' Diana's death for money when he published 'A Royal Duty' - which made a series of private revelations.