Diana servant may face jail

Wendy Berry wrote about the Royal couple's relationship

A former royal servant who wrote a book about the Prince and Princess of Wales's marriage breakdown could face jail after secretly returning to Britain.

Wendy Berry defied a High Court injunction against the publication of The Housekeeper's Diary then fled the country five years ago.

But she has been traced to an address in Merseyside by The Sunday Telegraph and could be imprisoned for contempt of court or have her assets stripped.

The tell-all book has earned her an estimated £200,000.

Confidentiality agreement

A St James's Palace spokeswoman said: "We were very grateful for the information on Wendy Berry's whereabouts.

"We will pass it on to the appropriate people here on Monday," she added.

St James's Palace must decide whether to apply to a High Court judge to have Miss Berry arrested.

Miss Berry worked for Charles and Diana at their country home in Gloucestershire until 1993.

As a royal employee, she had to sign a confidentiality agreement at the start of her eight years in their service.

Charles obtained an injunction banning publication of the book throughout the world in January 1995.

'Betraying trust'

But the book was published in America and, amid claims that it quoted verbatim arguments between the couple, sold more than 100,000 copies.

The prince's lawyers won a further injunction in October 1995 entitling him to all profits from the book.

Miss Berry's house could be seized by the courts to pay compensation to Charles.

The author of another book about Diana, her former private secretary Patrick Jephson, was publicly criticised by Prince William on Friday for betraying his mother's trust.