Burglar comes clean with his royal heroics after three years

Rinino, said to be in an Italian jail for a string of petty offences, claimed he still had letters addressed to Charles from his longstanding friend, Camilla Parker Bowles.

Speaking through his lawyer, Alessandro Garassini, he said he was willing to return the stolen items provided he was able to “meet the Prince and his sons face to face,” The Times said.

The reported confession comes more than three years after the Prince’s apartment in St James’s Palace in central London was burgled.

He reportedly claimed to have entered into negotiations with the British embassy in Rome to return some of the stolen goods.

A Buckingham Palace spokesman said late on Tuesday: “The Prince of Wales has been Informed of the reports. I understand the police are looking into it.”

A Scotland Yard spokeswoman confirmed they had been cooperating with Italian police about the burglary at St James’s Palace, but said they had no knowledge of anything other than jewellery being stolen. She added that they were not naming the suspected burglar.

The items stolen on February 24, 1994 included cufflinks, sleevelinks, gold pins, stick pins, watches, brooches and silver boxes, the spokeswoman said.

Meanwhile, the life of Diana has been turned into a book for children.

Author Robert Menasse said yesterday after the book was launched that he decided to write The last princess charming to answer questions from his eight-year-old daughter Sophie about why grown-ups were obsessed by Diana, who died in a car crash in Paris.

“There was only one way to approach the subject, and that was through the eyes of a child,” Menasse said.