The inquest into the death of Princess Diana is drawing to a close, and the coroner Lord Justice Scott Baker has been summing up to help the jury to reach a verdict. Among other things, he has advised them on the credibility of one of the witnesses at the inquest, Diana’s butler Paul Burrell.

The BBC summarised his comments about Burrell like this:

Lord Baker suggested to the jury that Mr Burrell may have given evidence while thinking that “whatever he said might have an impact on his future enterprises”. Mr Burrell worked for Diana from 1992 and described himself as “Diana’s rock” - but Lord Baker said he was “quite a porous rock” given that many of the princess’ secrets were made public. The coroner said: “I advise you to proceed with caution especially if you are left with the impression that he only told you what he wanted you to hear. “On the other hand he was close to Diana and was particularly well-placed to hear information that others were not. The fact that he has not told you the truth on some occasions does not mean you cannot accept anything he he has told you. But you should proceed with caution.”

[Source: BBC News: Diana's butler 'obviously' lying]

In other words, although Burrell, being close to Diana, has a good ability to see, his vested interest to advance his own career means that he can’t be relied on.