Prince William and Prince Harry secretly met Princess Diana’s butler Paul Burrell before the Duke of Sussex got married

Prince William (left) and Prince Harry are reported to have met their mother's former butler, Paul Burrell, shortly before Harry's wedding to better understand aspects of her life. Photo / File, AP

Prince William and Prince Harry had a secret meeting with a former royal butler before Harry’s wedding to Meghan Markle.

New reports have revealed the brothers secretly met Princess Diana’s butler Paul Burrell before Harry’s wedding so they could better understand their mother.

The royal siblings were believed to have last spoken to Burrell after their mother’s funeral in 1997. It has now been revealed that they met at Kensington Palace in 2017 after Harry announced his engagement to Meghan.

Burrell is said to have attended the meeting with William and Harry alone to provide them with “better clarity” about elements of their late mother’s life.

Paul Burrell was perhaps one of Diana's most well-known members of staff. Photo / Getty Images

A royal source told The Sun on Sunday newspaper: “It was a very low-key meeting but the brothers wanted to speak with someone who had been close to their mother.

“There were some aspects of her life they felt Paul could provide better clarity on.

“They asked to keep it all under wraps and he respected that.

“Paul was happy to tell them everything he knew and shed some light on their memories.”

Burrell was Diana’s confidant until her death in a Paris car crash. He recently suggested his former boss would have attended her ex-husband King Charles’ and Queen Camilla’s coronation had she still been alive because she would have been very successful in her own right.

King Charles and Princess Diana were married for 15 years. Photo / AP

He told OK! magazine: “I always think to myself, ‘What would she do in this situation?’ And she would have been at the coronation looking glorious, in her 60s, outshining everyone the way she did.

“I don’t think she would hold any animosity at all towards her ex-husband or her ex-husband’s wife.

“I think she would have gone on in life and achieved her own ambitions, still being royal and regal.”

It comes after Harry, who became Duke of Sussex just before his wedding, flew to London for less than 29 hours to attend his father’s coronation earlier this month. After the ceremony, he drove straight to Heathrow Airport and flew back to California to celebrate his son Archie’s fourth birthday.

The Daily Mail reported that Harry – whose relationship with his family and particularly his brother, remains strained – had no contact with William before, during or after the ceremony. An insider told People magazine last month: “I don’t think the coronation and a big conversation can be conflated.”