CHRIS TITLEY talks to a man who believes Paul Burrell has not only let himself down, he has let his profession down too.

ALMOST everyone has had their say on Paul Burrell. The man himself has hardly shut up since theft charges against him were dropped last year. Not only has he sold his story to the Daily Mirror twice over, the former butler to Diana, Princess of Wales is now on a gruelling promotional tour for his book, A Royal Duty, which went on sale yesterday.

A million copies are being printed for the United States alone, where he will embark on a 25-city tour.

Meanwhile his former employers, the Royal Family, have not maintained their customary silence. Princes William and Harry issued a statement last week asking Mr Burrell to zip it, and condemning his "cold and overt betrayal" of their mother. The Queen has let it be known that she supports them.

Then there are the supporting cast of commentators. Former royal spin doctors, various court correspondents, Paul Burrell's wife Maria and several dozen newspaper columnists have weighed in with their ten quid's worth.

But one vested interest group have kept quiet. These are the people whose professional standing could be tarnished by Mr Burrell's outpourings: Britain's butlers.

So I sought out a below stairs perspective from Ronnie Marshall. Mr Marshall, 82, began his career in service as a hall boy in London before the Second World War, and after seeing action in the RAF he spent more than half a century as butler to first Sir William then Sir Marcus Worsley at Hovingham Hall.

Like Paul Burrell, he brought out a memoir, A Butler Remembers. But he had different motives for writing it.

"I don't like what he's done," says Mr Marshall, who still lives in Hovingham. "His memoirs shouldn't have been detrimental to the people he had worked for. It's all for money today.

"When I wrote my book I never intended publishing it. It was just written for my family because they never knew much about my life."

After he had been persuaded to publish it, Mr Marshall sought approval from his employers, and got it.

"I didn't betray any confidences. It wasn't only about the family I had worked for, although naturally they did come into it. It was all my life, not just my work at Hovingham Hall. Sir Marcus Worsley himself wrote the foreword. They were in agreement with what I had written."

The book has sold out, and so, Mr Marshall believes, has Paul Burrell.

Not that he uses such a phrase. Instead, he says that the decision by Diana's confidant to quote from the private correspondence of the Royal Family is "beyond all reason".

"We never even thought about that in my day. There were no such things as shredding machines in those households. Things went on to the fire.

"It was my and my wife's duty to empty the waste paper baskets and we would never have dreamt of going through them."

That is Mr Burrell's biggest sin against the butler's unwritten code: breach of trust. Some have suggested he let his closeness to Diana cloud his judgement.

During his years at Hovingham Hall, Mr Marshall almost became part of the family. But he knew where the line was drawn, and has always kept their private affairs private.

"One doesn't ever overstep the mark. It doesn't matter how familiar one gets with the family, you are still a servant. But you are a special servant. They trust you.

"When you are working for such people they take you into their confidence.

"The children have grown up always knowing me as their father's butler. They have taken me into their confidence. I would never betray any confidence such as that.

"I probably do know things but I would never divulge them to anyone."

Mr Marshall served kings, princes and movie stars when they were guests at Hovingham, but never considered broadcasting confidential information.

"When you are working with people and living with people as I did, you are in among them when they're having conversations, when you're serving dinners and lunches.

"You hear lots of things being talked about. But that's as far as it goes."

Paul Burrell will be a millionaire as a result of his revelations, but Mr Marshall is not sure that will make him happy.

"I don't think he's going to have a peaceful life however much money he's making out of it. He's got it on his conscience now.

"I can't think any staff in households would agree with what he's done. We all think it's a shame it has gone as far as it has."

Updated: 12:25 Tuesday, October 28, 2003