Burrell: I'm not coming back to UK

The former royal butler said he won't come back to the UK to make a second appearance at the inquest so that he can be questioned about whether he lied when giving his evidence. Coroner Lord Scott Baker requested that Burrell, who lives in Florida, return to court after he "admitted" while being secretly filmed last month that he withheld evidence.

When the ex-butler next sets foot in this country he risks a formal order from the coroner to attend court. If he defies this, he could be arrested.

Though his friends dismissed as "empty boasts" Burrell's claims he had not told the whole story, and had thrown in "a few red herrings," Lord Baker deemed them serious enough to send out a summons two weeks ago.

The coroner told the hearing today: "Mr Burrell is abroad and I have no power to compel a witness to attend to give evidence and he says that he is not going to be in the United Kingdom in the near future." On the three-hour film, revealed in The Sun, Burrell said he never wanted to give evidence at the inquest into the 1997 deaths of the Princess of Wales and her lover, Dodi Fayed. He said he had been persuaded to attend as "it wouldn't look good" if he remained absent.

A statement by the court said: "The coroner's purpose, in seeking to recall Mr Burrell, was for him to explain the alleged inconsistencies between what he said in evidence and what he said on the occasion referred to in The Sun. In light of Mr Burrell's refusal to give evidence, the coroner has taken the decision that further information from Mr Burrell should be read to the jury to ensure they have as much information as possible."

Burrell, 49, who has set up a multi-million pound business on the back of his previous connection with the royal family, fell from grace after selling his memories of the princess.

His revelations in his first book, A Royal Duty, prompted Princes William and Harry to issue a statement saying they could not believe he had "abused his position in such a cold and overt betrayal".

Burrell, who subsequently wrote another book, The Way We Were, justified writing the memoirs by saying the royal family let him down when he was tried for theft of royal property in 2002.

The trial collapsed but that, along with allegations about his personal life, added to his ignominy in this country.

Burrell's attempts to win back public favour, by appearing on I'm A Celebrity...Get Me Out Of Here and other reality shows, did not achieve what he had hoped for and he made his US home his permanent residence.