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LONDON, Sunday (Reuters)

The dramatic collapse of the theft case against the late Princess Diana's butler Paul Burrell prompted calls on Sunday for the British justice system to be administered in the name of the people rather than the monarch.

Queen Elizabeth's belated intervention in the trial last week, just before Burrell was about to take the stand, allowed the 44-year-old butler to walk free.

Newspapers poured scorn on police and prosecution in the wake of Friday's expensive debacle and gave full vent to conspiracy theories about the timing of the royal move.

Several said Burrell was now considering offers of up to one million pounds ($1.6 million) to tell his story and may even sue for wrongful prosecution.

"A case that should never have come to court exposed mind-boggling incompetence...," the Sunday Times said. "Even the Keystone Cops would have decided this one was not worth pursuing...."

The Observer called it: "The almost Ruritanian case of Regina v Burrell."

Burrell had been accused of stealing over 300 personal items belonging to the princess, divorced wife of heir-to-the-throne Prince Charles, after her death in a Paris car crash in 1997.

The prosecution's case had rested upon what it thought was the fact that the butler had not told anyone he was taking the items.

But in a move which torpedoed the 1.5 million pound trial, the Queen revealed that Burrell had in fact told her five years ago he was taking some of Diana's belongings for safekeeping.

Why, asked the papers, did she wait so long before speaking up? Many said the Queen must have been aware that the trial was proceeding and may have acted to end it before Burrell had a chance to reveal any damaging royal secrets.

Some papers suggested that details of the love lives of Diana and Prince Charles as their marriage fell apart might also be exposed.

"Any other figure in the land would have been called to present her evidence in court...rather than merely halting a trial with a statement," The Observer said.

Noting that the law as it stands means the Queen cannot be called as a witness, the paper added: "The law must be fundamentally realigned so that justice in Britain is administered in the name of the people rather than one senior citizen who may well also be an interested party."

The Independent on Sunday said the case had ruined the image, carefully nurtured this year during the Queen's Golden Jubilee, of a modern monarchy moving with the times.

"The collapse of the Burrell trial dramatically illustrates that this glowing image of a modern royal family is little more than artful spinning," it said.

"They are unique in public life, in not being accountable for their actions. The royal family in its entirety seems to be above the law."

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