Diana friendship may have helped Barrymore's downfall, says wife Cheryl
Michael Barrymore’s friendship with Diana, Princess of Wales may have helped lead to the shamed entertainer’s downfall, his ex-wife said today.
Cheryl Barrymore told a newspaper that the pair spent hours together talking, and that the princess told the gay TV star they were alike.
The late princess told him they were unique and that no-one should be allowed to control them ever again, Mrs Barrymore, 50, told the Daily Mail.
Diana paid many visits to Barrymore, famous for shows including Strike It Lucky and Kids Say The Funniest Things, but never wanted his wife to be present at the meetings, she said.
And she added that the relationship may even have “tipped him over the edge”, the newspaper said.
Mrs Barrymore spoke of her former husband’s friendship with the late princess in an interview ahead of the newspaper’s serialisation of her book.
She has written an account of two decades of marriage with Barrymore, whose career is in tatters following the death of Stuart Lubbock during a party at his mansion in Roydon, Essex, in March last year.
The book promises to bring fresh shame to the 50-year-old entertainer, with claims of drug-taking and violent outbursts and allegations that he made a sham of his marriage during “sexual expeditions” with young men.
Barrymore faced no criminal charges as a result of Mr Lubbock’s death but Coroner Caroline Beasley-Murray referred an allegation of perjury to the police for investigation following the inquest.
The referral came about after Mrs Barrymore claimed that her ex-husband lied to the court when he said he could not swim, and therefore could not attempt to rescue Mr Lubbock from the swimming pool in which he was found dead.
