Zara And Mike Tindall: A Too Modern Royal Couple?

Mike Tindall, boyfriend of Princess Anne's daughter, Zara Phillips has been arrested for drink driving while driving to Twickenham to watch a game of rugby.

The previous day both Mike and Zara were seen drinking copious amounts of champagne at the Cheltenham races. Mr Tindall was so drunk that he was seen vomiting on himself and Miss Phillip' was said to have been so drunk that she fell of her chair and hit her head on a table. Miss Phillips private detective took them both back to her house on her mothers Gatcombe estate.

The couple, who have been dating since they met at a rugby game in Sydney in 2003 seem to be solid. There are no rumours of relationship difficulties and adultery. However, the amount the two drink is said to be worrying.

I appreciate that Mr Tindall and Miss Phillips are still young. But being born royal (even if you don't have a royal title) does come with responsibility as much as the person may not like it. She may not be as much a public figure as her more media friendly cousins, but, she is still representing the most powerful family in Britain.

I shall imagine that HM will not be too pleased to see such stories about her granddaughter become public. I'm sure she also feels as though she has had more then enough of the drinking culture around William, Harry and Princess Beatrice.

I am slightly disappointed. I thought that Zara was more grounded then this. Having a drink is fine, every one does at the races, but drinking to excess is not appealing and when your a royal, even a minor one, it will always make the papers.

I admire Zara. Her achievements in her chosen sport are inspiring. Please don't go down the route that your cousin Harry has Zara, where every good act, every achievement drowns amongst the negative stories of drunken behaviour. Your better then that.

Paul Burrell: What a let down.

It seems that for Mr Burrell admitting that he committed perjury during the inquest into the death of Diana, Princess of Wales and her companion, Dodi Fayed wasn't enough. Now it has been revealed that the Princess's butler removed a blood splattered ring from her finger while she was laying in the morgue and handed it to a neighbour of his in Cheshire.

The Daily Mail today reported that Burrell planned to take the ring, other items of jewelry and documentation and dump it over board on a cruise, so sensitive was the ring (which Burrell claimed he believed to be a engagement ring) and the other items.

Now, he has also admitted that the Princess's neck was 'grotesquely twisted' when he visited Diana's body after her death in Paris.

What happened to this man that has turned him from tight lipped 'rock' to someone who proved himself on video tape to be a liar? To add insult to injury he seems to take glee in the fact that he has deliberately mislead the jury who are sitting in on the inquest and taunted them with 'red herrings' knowing that those red herrings would take away the spotlight from him.

Mr Burrell's character has always been, for me anyway, in doubt. During a homosexual relationship he was conducting in 1981 he wrote letters to his lover in May describing Lady Diana's wedding dress in great detail (even though the designers, David and Elizabeth Emanuel were spending a small fortune in security to keep the design secret). Rumour has it that even while he was still in Diana's employ he was leaking information about her life, particularly in the days after the Wales separation. In the late 1990's he made a fortune speaking about Royal life on cruises, he wrote 'A Royal Duty' in the early 2000's, and then followed it up with the second book 'The Way We Were' in 2006. He has also penned books about entertaining in style, creating flower arrangements and has appeared in series on TV such as American Princess and Australian Princess, with all the things he does he names Diana, although he calls her 'The Princess'.

I feel this man is a shame to Britain and now he has been caught admitting to lying in court I believe he should be made to return to Britain and answer questions. I also feel that no matter what he writes (and yes, I believe a third book could be in the pipeline) people will not believe a word he says.

I hope that Mr Burrell will one day find happiness in his life and that he can quit his obsession with Diana. If he wants to drag his name into the mud then he is free to do so. However, I hope he stops doing the same to Diana who cannot answer back.