Queen's role in collapsed trial

The queen, Princes Philip and Charles at the Bali service just after she revealed the Burrell meeting

Story Tools

SPECIAL REPORT • Charles's office defends inquiry • What queen knew about Burrell • Scope of royal inquiry criticised • Profile: Inquiry head Michael Peat • Royal crisis: Cast of characters QUICKVOTE Has the collapse of the trial of the late Princess Diana's butler Paul Burrell tarnished the image of the royal family? Yes No VIEW RESULTS

LONDON, England -- A conversation between Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Charles in a royal limousine led to the acquittal of butler Paul Burrell.

The Queen and the Prince of Wales were on the way to St. Paul's Cathedral in central London for a memorial service for the victims of the Bali bomb blast.

During a general conversation, the queen mentioned to her son that she had met Burrell in the weeks after the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, and the butler had told her he was keeping some papers for safekeeping.

The heir to the throne thought this was significant and that the police should be informed.

"Immediate steps were taken to draw this to the attention of the police," Buckingham Palace told the UK's Press Association.

The Palace made it clear that the decision to drop the case was entirely a matter for the prosecution.

"As a prosecution statement to the court made clear this morning, the queen was not briefed on either Mr. Burrell's defence case or the prosecution case against him." said a Buckingham Place statement.

"The prosecution did not ask the queen, at any stage, for details about her meeting with Mr. Burrell."

The meeting between the queen and Burrell, after the princess's death, was at the butler's request. The Queen agreed, wishing to show support for him during a difficult time.

General issues were discussed and the meeting was not specifically about papers held in safekeeping and no list of items was handed over.

No response was sought by Burrell from the queen and she made no comment.

The significance of this meeting was not realised until the queen returned from Canada, where she undertook a Golden Jubilee tour during the start of the Burrell trial. The Prince of Wales had also been away, staying in Scotland on the Queen's Balmoral estate.

Royal expert Robert Jobson told CNN the police and the prosecution had no knowledge of the meeting between Burrell and the queen and the case went ahead with the presumption he had not told anyone about taking any of Diana's possessions.

"As a result, at a meeting of the Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Charles, Prince William and the Queen they basically decided that the evidence had gone too far and they interjected in the case," says Jobson.

"The bottom line is it seems that Buckingham Palace and the queen have stopped the trial which is going to cause all kinds of constitutional implications in Britain."

Iran poll to go to run-off • U.N.: Truck bomb killed Hariri • EU 'crisis' after summit failure • U.S. House votes to keep U.N. dues

CNN/Money: Security alert issued for 40 million credit cards • Bin Laden deputy sends message • U.S. House votes to keep U.N. dues • Iran poll to go to run-off