BRITAIN: Diana, Princess of Wales, kept a signet ring belonging to her former lover Mr James Hewitt in a locked box in her sitting room, the trial of her butler, Mr Paul Burrell, heard at the Old Bailey in London yesterday.
The item was deemed so sensitive by police that it was initially not read out in open court but written on a piece of paper and handed to the judge.
Det Sgt Roger Milburn wrote it down on Friday, explaining that it was a "very sensitive" piece of jewellery and Ms Justice Rafferty adjourned the case for the weekend. This morning she decided it could be revealed as a ring worn by Mr Hewitt, a former cavalry officer, with whom Diana had an affair.
The ring was one of several items the princess kept in a wooden box containing some of her most confidential possessions. Mr Milburn, one of the officers who raided Mr Burrell's house in Cheshire, told the court that police had been asked to establish the whereabouts of the box's contents by Diana's sister, Lady Sarah McCorquodale.
The officer agreed that neither the ring nor other items allegedly in the box - including letters from Prince Philip, cassette tapes from a former Kensington Palace employee and a letter of resignation from one of Diana's former private secretaries - had been found during the 12-hour search of Mr Burrell's house.
Mr Burrell denies stealing 310 items from the princess, the Prince of Wales and Prince William.
The court has heard the box was opened by Mr Burrell and Lady Sarah several weeks after Diana's death. Lady Sarah had asked Mr Burrell to keep the contents safe but "never saw the contents again", said Mr William Boyce QC, prosecuting.
Det Sgt Milburn said police went to Mr Burrell's home in January 2001 to search for documents, but had also been asked by Lady Sarah to "ascertain the whereabouts" of the box's contents. Mr Burrell told police searching his house he did not know where the contents were and denied ever having removed it.
Cross-examined by Lord Carlile QC, Det Sgt Milburn said when the search team arrived at his house, Mr Burrell was arrested and cautioned. He was asked whether he had taken anything from Kensington Palace and said "No". They had not needed a search warrant, he said. The search was carried out under a section of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act.
When items were discovered in the bench seat in Mr Burrell's study, Det Sgt Milburn said he took a "step back as it was clear items we found were very sensitive". He took notes and looked as the property was retained.
Police gave the Prince of Wales and Prince William a top-level briefing about the Burrell investigation in August, Lord Carlile said.