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Paul Burrell (pictured on ITV's Lorraine earlier this year), branded Channel 4's decision to broadcast 'private' tapes of the royal 'seedy'

Princess Diana's former butler Paul Burrell has branded Channel 4's decision to broadcast 'private' tapes of the royal 'seedy' and like 'raiding her diary'.

Mr Burrell has become the latest member of Diana's circle to weigh in on the controversy about the footage – despite Princes William and Harry once accusing him of 'cold overt betrayal' after he published a book about his work with their mother.

Rosa Monckton, a close friend of the late princess, today called for a boycott on the Channel 4 documentary, saying that she had written to the broadcaster and urging others to do the same.

Mrs Monckton, 63, today tweeted: 'Friend of Diana urges Channel 4 to scrap 'intrusive' documentary. If you agree with me, please write to Channel 4.'

It comes after the broadcaster admitted it had exchanged correspondence with Diana's brother Earl Spencer amid reports that he had asked them to drop the programme.

She told The Guardian newspaper: 'It was like therapy, what she was doing. I was around at that time. It was very wrong of him to ask all those leading questions and it was naive of her to have agreed to do it, but nonetheless it was like a therapy and therapy should remain private.'

Princess Diana with Mr Burrell as she promoted the Landmine Survivors Network in Bosnia in August 1997

Mr Burrell, 59, who the royal referred to as 'my rock', has made thousands in lucrative deals following his close relationship with the Princess of Wales

Mr Burrell, 59, who the royal referred to as 'my rock', has made thousands in lucrative deals following his close relationship with the Princess of Wales - but today claimed the tapes would 'upset William and Harry'.

In an outspoken statement, after his book A Royal Duty was published in 2003, Princes William and Harry, just 21 and 19 at the time, said: 'We cannot believe that Paul, who was entrusted with so much, could abuse his position in such a cold and overt betrayal.

'It is not only deeply painful for the two of us but also for everyone else affected and it would mortify our mother if she were alive today.

'If we may say so, we feel we are more able to speak for our mother than Paul. We ask Paul please to bring these revelations to an end.'

In response to the comments, Mr Burrell said his book was 'nothing more than a tribute to their mother' and that he was 'extremely proud' of his work, adding: 'I am convinced the princess would be proud of too'.

The documentary Diana: In Her Own Words is centred around the tapes recorded by her speech coach and ex-Coronation Street actor Peter Settelen.

The some 20 recordings were uncovered by Scotland Yard when officers raided Paul Burrell's flat in January 2001.

Their content was regarded as so sensitive that the prosecution agreed not to use them in Mr Burrell's Old Bailey trial which collapsed in 2002.

Princes William and Harry once accused the butler (pictured with Diana in Bosnia in 1997), of 'cold overt betrayal' after he published a book about his work with their mother

The some 20 recordings of Diana were uncovered by Scotland Yard when officers raided Paul Burrell's flat in January 2001

Following a bitter legal row between Mr Settelen, 65, and the Spencer family, headed by her brother, the tapes were returned to the voice coach after it was concluded that he held the copyright.

They have never been aired in Britain despite being broadcast by America's NBC and those closest to Diana have maintained that she never believed they would be made public.

The recordings, which contain revelations about her bulimia and intimate details about her relationship were purchased by the BBC but later shelved.

Diana: In Her Own Words is centred around the tapes recorded by her speech coach and ex-Coronation Street actor Peter Settelen

Yesterday, Mr Burrell, who has appeared on reality television series I'm a Celebrity…Get me Out of Here! told ITV Yorkshire: 'I think those tapes were made privately for the Princess' own use…I don't think they should be broadcast. It's almost like raiding her diary. That's wrong... It can only upset Prince William and Prince Harry. I understand that there is a thirst for new information but I think it's a step too far.'

He added: 'We all need to draw a line underneath it, remember the good times…It' s not going back into the past and delving through laundry and seedy tapes and thoughts that were never meant to be made public.'

In the footage, Diana tells Mr Settelen about how she only had relations with Prince Charles 'once every three weeks' – although he was initially 'all over me' 'like a bad rash'. She also claims the Queen described her own son as 'hopeless'.

Mr Burrell's comments come after the Queen's former Press Secretary, Dickie Arbiter, accused Channel 4 of exchanging 'grubby blood money' with Mr Settelen.

Yesterday, Mr Arbiter claimed Mr Burrell was 'irrelevant' but said of the documentary: 'I think they should be doing something about it, certainly not running those tapes...Settelen owns them but he still has no right to release them. They were done in a confidential surrounding and he has more than broken that confidence.'

In the recordings, Diana discloses intimate details of her failed marriage to Prince Charles

Channel 4 has defended its decision to show the tapes, insisting they are an 'important historical source' 

Paul Burrell and Princess Diana in Egypt. He said 'I think those tapes were made privately for the Princess' own use…I don't think they should be broadcast'

He added: 'It's all about money isn't it? Channel 4 will get the ratings, they get the advertising, they get the revenue from it and they are laughing all the way to the bank.'

A spokesman for Channel 4 said: 'The excerpts from the tapes recorded with Peter Settelen have never been shown before on British television and are an important historical source.

'We carefully considered all the material used in the documentary and, though the recordings were made in private, the subjects covered are a matter of public record and provide a unique insight into the preparations Diana undertook to gain a public voice and tell her own personal story, which culminated in her later interview for Panorama.

'This unique portrait of Diana gives her a voice and places it front and centre at a time when the nation will be reflecting on her life and death.'

A spokesman for Channel 4 said: 'The excerpts from the tapes recorded with Peter Settelen have never been shown before on British television and are an important historical source'

Mr Settelen's lawyer Marcus Rutherford has said of his client: 'His (Settelen' s) view has always been that (the tapes) were as much private to him as they were to Diana. Had she still been with us, I have no doubt they would have remained private for as long as both Peter and Diana wanted it. Candidly, it was the Spencer family and the Met Police who forced the issue, by taking it upon themselves to treat the material as if Peter's own rights were of no consequence.'

He added: 'Coming up to the 20th anniversary of Diana's death…her place in history is being re-examined. 

'There are many commentators quite prepared to discuss her views and feelings at the time, and to speculate on the sort of a person she was, including her sons, who obviously have unique and wonderful memories of her, but is a false argument to say that this particular record by Diana in her own words, should be suppressed, when quite plainly she herself took every opportunity to tell whoever would listen - including deliberately for publication - what she was going through.

'It took a lot of persuading for Peter to accept that the time had come to let people in the UK look at the material itself and form their own views about it. He did not want to be seen as yet another talking head just giving personal recollections, and what he has preferred to do is say: 'This is Diana herself talking, make of it what you will'.'