Tiggy Legge-Bourke

"My husband is planning "an accident" in my car. brake failure & serious head injury in order to make the path clear for him to marry Tiggy. 

Camilla is nothing but a decoy"

February 12, 1996

Vol. 45

No. 6

Diana Draws Blood

By Michelle Green

 

Lashing Out at Tiggy Brings a Legal Warning and Enrages the Queen  

  

Reports that became public last week suggest that Diana, 34, has recently played into the hands of those who may not wish her well. On Jan. 24, British papers pegged her as the source of a false rumor that Charles's aide Alexandra "Tiggy" Legge-Bourke, companion to Princes William, 13, and Harry, 11, when they are with their father, had become pregnant by Charles last year and had an abortion. 

According to witnesses who gave their accounts when the story finally surfaced, Diana strolled over to Tiggy—whom she reportedly views as a rival for her sons' affections—during the Waleses' Dec. 14 staff Christmas party at London's Lanesborough Hotel. 

"So sorry to hear about your baby," she allegedly said to Legge-Bourke, 30, who replied with a stunned "What?" before dissolving in tears.

 

Two days before full details of the scandal hit the papers, the princess's longtime private secretary Patrick Jephson, 39, resigned. Reportedly, after receiving a tongue-lashing from Di, he retorted, "You can't treat people like this," and walked out

   Shortly after the party, it seems, the tale reached the Queen, who talked with Legge-Bourke—a favorite, whose mother, Shan, is a lady-in-waiting to Princess Anne. Tiggy vigorously denied that Di's accusation had any basis in fact—as did Charles, 47, when his mother consulted him. Some of the Queen's courtiers, at least, concluded that the troubled Diana had fabricated the story to besmirch Tiggy—apparently because some are promoting her as a more popular companion for Charles, and a more acceptable would-be queen, than his longtime mistress, Camilla Parker Bowles, 48 (see story, page 171). Says one knowledgeable source: "The Queen was absolutely furious and totally in sympathy with Tiggy." 

After sparking the Queen's anger, Di made an apparent plea for public sympathy 

As for Tiggy, she has proved far from defenseless. With the Queen's blessing, she asked prominent libel lawyer Peter Carter-Ruck to write Di's solicitors on Dec. 18, asking that she apologize and that the abortion accusation be "recognized to be totally untrue." On Dec. 20, Carter-Ruck warned journalists not to print "malicious lies" about his client. That apparently was intended as a warning to any newspaper that might consider repeating Diana's allegation. (Still, Carter-Ruck lodged no complaint against the Sun or the Daily Mirror when they broke the story on Jan. 24. Sources close to the Palace say Tiggy is reluctant to prolong the scandal—or upset her young charges—by going to court.) 

http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20102758,00.html

PEOPLE.COM (1996 archives)

"Thank you Charles, for putting me through such hell and for giving me the opportunity to learn from the cruel things you have done to me. I have gone forward fast and have cried more than anyone will ever know. 

The anguish nearly killed me, but my inner strength has never let me down, and my guides have taken such good care of me up there. 

Aren't I fortunate to have had their wings to protect me."

I am sitting here at my desk today in October, longing for someone to hug me & encourage me to keep strong & hold my head high — this particular phase in my life is the most dangerous — my husband is planning "an accident" in my car. brake failure & serious head injury in order to make the path clear for him to marry Tiggy. Camilla is nothing but a decoy, so we are all being used by the man in every sense of the word.

I have been battered, bruised and abused mentally by a system for 15 years now, but I feel no resentment, I carry no hatred. I am weary of the battles, but I will never surrender. I am strong inside and maybe that is a problem for my enemies. 

Thank you Charles, for putting me through such hell and for giving me the opportunity to learn from the cruel things you have done to me. I have gone forward fast and have cried more than anyone will ever know. The anguish nearly killed me, but my inner strength has never let me down, and my guides have taken such good care of me up there. Aren't I fortunate to have had their wings to protect me.

"Regina versus Burrell" was effectively halted by Regina. It emerged that while following the progress of the trial, the Queen wondered about the relevance of Mr Burrell telling her, a few weeks after Diana died, that he had taken some of her papers for safekeeping. She confided in the Prince of Wales and he informed police.

The revelation fatally undermined the prosecution's case, which was based on the claim that Mr Burrell had removed Diana's belongings without telling anyone.

Today, after three days of frantic behind-the-scenes activity while the trial was on hold, prosecutor William Boyce QC announced: "The prosecution has concluded that the current trial is no longer viable."

Judge Mrs Justice Rafferty directed that Mr Burrell was not guilty on all three counts of theft - against Diana, the Prince of Wales and Prince William - and told him he was free to go, nearly two years after he was arrested.

Amid emotional scenes outside the court building, Mr Burrell stood next to his solicitor, Andrew Shaw, who declared "an immense victory" and attacked police blunders and the stubborn refusal of detectives to believe that the former butler was "the Princess's most loyal and close confidante".

He said: "He has always maintained his total innocence."

It remained unclear what will happen to the disputed property seized when police raided Mr Burrell's house in Farndon, Cheshire, in January 2001, though much of it is likely to be handed to the Prince of Wales and Prince William at some point.