The late Princess Diana's former butler Paul Burrell has launched his own range of wines – and Americans are queuing round the block to get hold of them.
Royal Butler Wines – an Australian Chardonnay, Shiraz and sparkling rose – are on sale in Publix supermarkets in Florida.
'Our distributor [the National Distributing Company] says one bottle is selling every 20 seconds,' said Seamus Quigley of Vintage Wine Management, Burrell's US-based global sales and marketing agency.
'They say they've never seen anything like it. There is a lot of curiosity about the royal family here. I think the film The Queen has helped.'
Made by winemaker Philip John at Hunter Valley winery Hungerford Hill, the 2006 vintage –100,000 cases – costs US$12 (£6) a bottle for the Chardonnay and Shiraz, and US$18 (£9) for sparkling rosé.
Burrell (pictured), who Diana referred to as her 'rock', worked for the British royal family for over 20 years. His life since the princess's death in 1997 he has not been without controversy. In 2002, after the sensational collapse of a £1.5m trial, he was cleared of stealing from the royal estate.
He has also published a series of books dealing with his life with the royal family, and in 2004 he was a runner up on the UK TV reality show I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here.
Burrell's wines are being promoted as part of a range of Royal Butler-branded products - including furniture, rugs and china which sell through outlets like the Home Shopping Network.
Burrell was involved in all aspects of developing the wine, from choosing the blends, to the labels which reflect a country garden theme. 'The Chardonnay label features sweet pea, Princess Diana's favourite flower,' Quigley said.
He added that Burrell was uniquely placed to inspire confidence in the consumer, who would 'feel comfortable' bringing home a wine called Royal Butler.
'It makes sense. Who better to buy wine from than someone who chose wine for kings and queens for so many years?'
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Quigley, who also distributes Fishcage, Heavy Metal and Higher Octave wines from Hungerford Hill – and is working on a wine project with U2 frontman and social campaigner Bono – said he hoped to expand Royal Butler into all major US markets, as well as possibly Germany and the UK later this year.
Burrell is also working on a line of California wines called Royal Butler Jewels.
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I don't know what to say. 'My people, my people' comes to mind. It wouldn't be so distrubing were it not for the price of these wines. Publix is appropriately named as their wine selection is distinctly mainstream and these wines are pretty pricey in that realm. The profit margin must be massive.
What is that phrase coined here in the US ? Something like, 'there is one born every minute'... Perhaps it now needs to be modified to read, 'there is one born every 20 seconds'.
Chick Wells, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
I am not an avid supporter of the Royal Family by any means, and frankly I find the media's (or rather the public's) obsession with them quite unexplainable. Nonetheless, personally I feel that when a person is under the care and employment of someone else or an organisation for that matter, they will as a result of that position be privy to information of a personal nature, and they have a moral responsibility to respect that and not sell it to the world, no matter what the world is willing to pay. There used to be something called human decency, something Paul Burrell would do well to look into. Surely I'm not the only person to feel this way. That fountain of knowledge otherwise know as Wikipedia mentions that he was "disliked greatly by the British public because he used his "Royal connection" to earn money". To be honest this never really bothered me before, but with this launch pf a brand of wine called (no jokes) the "Royal Butler", well that really hit a nerve. Annoying. Does he think the public are so easily deceived and manipulated? I have slightly more sympathy for the distribution company, National Distribution Company,
who are simply peddling prosperity, but could they be so short sighted? As reported on Wikiedia, at the wine launch Paul Burrell said "I wouldn't give my princess just anything and I won't give American ladies just anything either." At least we know who his target market is. The website doesn't have much detail on the wine itself. I found a few reviews on the web, but all were fairly superficial and not very positive. The wine is produced in Australia but that's about as much as I can find out. God knows who actually produces it; I'm sure they're being fairly quiet, particularly on the UK side of the Atlantic. The goods news is that most have ignored this wine and recognised it as simply the publicity masquerade and show that it is. Looks like Mr Burrell will need to pursue other avenues to generate the big bucks he's after. No doubt the next line of the Royal Butler collection is just around the corner though, I'm sure we won't have to wait long.
Stuart, London, UK
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