Paul Burrell, former butler to Princess Diana, is to marry his boyfriend after divorcing his wife of 33 years, it has been reported.
A spokesman for Burrell, who now plies his trade as a florist in Cheshire, told The Sun: "I can confirm their forthcoming marriage."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The paper reports that Burrell and Cooper held a joint stag party last month at a Blackpool drag club, and plan to marry in a "circus-themed" wedding in the Lake District in April.
Burrell and his wife announced their "mutual" agreement to divorce last year, although "reports suggested they had been living apart for a number of years", says the Daily Telegraph.
The pair met at Buckingham Palace, where Burrell was a footman and Cosgrove a maid to Prince Philip. They were married in 1983 and have two adult children, Alexander and Nicholas.
However, after the death of Diana catapulted Burrell into the media spotlight, the marriage was dogged by tabloid rumours about Burrell's sexuality.
The engagement announcement marks the first time that Burrell has publicly addressed the speculation, which, according to a Sun source, had previously been a "closely guarded secret".
The source adds that the Princess of Wales was the only woman whom Burrell trusted with the secret of his sexuality.
"For a time, literally nobody knew," the source said. "He did share it with Diana while he worked with her because they were so close. But at the time she was the only woman he felt he could tell."
In his 2003 memoir A Royal Duty, Burrell portrayed himself as a close confidant of the princess, claiming that Diana referred to him as her "rock".
-
Home Office worker accused of spiking mistress’s drink with abortion drugSpeed Read Darren Burke had failed to convince his girlfriend to terminate pregnancy
-
In hock to Moscow: exploring Germany’s woeful energy policySpeed Read Don’t expect Berlin to wean itself off Russian gas any time soon
-
Were Covid restrictions dropped too soon?Speed Read ‘Living with Covid’ is already proving problematic – just look at the travel chaos this week
-
Inclusive Britain: a new strategy for tackling racism in the UKSpeed Read Government has revealed action plan setting out 74 steps that ministers will take
-
Sandy Hook families vs. Remington: a small victory over the gunmakersSpeed Read Last week the families settled a lawsuit for $73m against the manufacturer
-
Farmers vs. walkers: the battle over ‘Britain’s green and pleasant land’Speed Read Updated Countryside Code tells farmers: ‘be nice, say hello, share the space’
-
Motherhood: why are we putting it off?Speed Read Stats show around 50% of women in England and Wales now don’t have children by 30
-
Anti-Semitism in America: a case of double standards?Speed Read Officials were strikingly reluctant to link Texas synagogue attack to anti-Semitism
