Paul Burrell pulls website amid 'hate mail' blitz

The Queen of Hearts'™ former butler Paul Burrell has been forced to temporarily shut down his website following his humiliating appearance at the Lady Di inquest, the Sun reports.

While the site currently offers the message "Temporarily closed, for updates and a new look... come back soon", the paper claims Burrell attracted so much "hate message" flack from irate fans of England's Rose that he decided to batten down the hatches.

A friend reportedly said: "So many people have sent messages to the site criticising Paul that he's had to take it down. It's shocked him."

Burrell, 49, last week admitted at the inquest to copying Diana's personal correspondence to preserve it for its "historical importance", as he put it. He subsequently used extracts for his best-selling books about life with the princess.

Richard Keen, QC, representing the parents of fatal crash driver Henri Paul, commented on Burrell's assertion that he was Diana's "rock" with the withering: "Are you perhaps quite a porous rock, Mr Burrell, given how much leaked out into interviews, letters, and books?" ®