'Smithgate' could be end of the monarchy

The Paul Burrell trial aired much of the Windsors dirty laundry in public. The airing was cut short when the Queen famously "remembered" that Burrell had told her that we was going to keep some of Diana's personal belongings for safe keeping.

A trial on which hundreds of thousand of pounds had been spent on had been stopped by one phone call from the Queen, presenting evidence she'd refused to give when asked by Burrell's defence team.

Once again, allegations of extremely unpleasant royal acts are back in the news, this time accompanied by suggestions that if they ever reach the light of day the monarchy could be fatally damaged.

It appears the Royals are now considering spending £5m (taken from your taxes) to silence Burrell, this time in the form of a bribe, rather than a car crash.

More:
The Scotsman - 'Smithgate' could bring down the monarchy
The Guardian - What the butler (and a few other people) knows but you don't