Diana’s ex-butler Paul Burrell says cancer treatment will leave him a ‘mess’

Former royal butler Paul Burrell has broken down in tears while sharing an update on his prostate cancer treatment, revealing that it will leave him in “a mess for a very long time”.

Burrell, a friend and confidante to Diana, Princess of Wales first disclosed he had been diagnosed with cancer on ITV’s Lorraine in January and his first operation is taking place on Monday.

Documenting his progress in a pre-recorded clip shared on Monday, the 64-year-old gave an update after meeting a consultant for the first time and having a pre-operation assessment.

He said: “I’ll go in for a two-hour procedure and they will inject radium into my prostate. And then recovery and then for the next three weeks I’ll have to go to radiotherapy appointments.

“Hopefully at the end of that period I’ll be all clear.”

Mr Burrell later became emotional while standing outside The Christie hospital in Manchester discussing the future with his 60-year-old husband Graham Cooper.

He said: “This isn’t about me, is it. It’s about the big picture – it’s about my hubby, Coop. It’s about our relationship, the way forward, so I had to talk about all of that. That’s a very important part of the jigsaw.

“And I get so emotional because of the hormone therapy which (they) said I’d have to continue after the operation so I’m going to be in a mess for a very long time.

“But you have to trade off certain things to get to a point of living.”

Aside from his former job in the royal household, Mr Burrell is also known for his appearances on TV shows including I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! in 2004, when he finished as runner-up to comedian Joe Pasquale.

He then headed to the jungle for the Australian version of the show in 2018 and has been in other celebrity shows such as Stars In Their Eyes, Celebrity Big Brother and Australian Princess.

He has also contributed to a number of documentaries about the royal family.

Lorraine airs on weekdays at 9am on ITV1 and ITVX.