London (AP) – After a cancer diagnosis, Princess Diana’s former butler, Paul Burrell (64), called for precautions. “Every man over 50 should have a PSA test,” Burrell told ITV.
He was diagnosed with prostate cancer after a routine check-up last summer. The PSA test determines the concentration of the prostate-specific antigen in the blood, but its informative value is limited and false positive results can also occur.
“I’m on an emotional roller coaster and I don’t know where I’m going to be. I was like, ‘Will I still be here next year?'” Burrell said through tears. “But at the same time, I realized that there are thousands of men like me out there, without symptoms, who don’t know they have it.” He was lucky that the disease was detected early. “Men aren’t very good at going to the doctor. They need a little nudge.”
Burrell was Diana’s butler from 1987 until Diana’s death in 1997. In a 2002 trial, he was acquitted of charges of having stolen numerous personal souvenirs from royal property. In 2003, he caused a stir with a book in which he revealed salacious details of his former boss’s marital crisis. A year later he took part in the British TV jungle camp.
