Robert Venables KC, a prominent tax barrister whose former clients included Princess Diana, has begun giving evidence at Southwark Crown Court, where he faces three charges of tax evasion amounting to nearly £2million.
The leading tax lawyer is accused of failing to accurately declare his earnings over seven years.
Taking the stand, Mr Venables told jurors his client list had included entertainers, aristocrats, major corporations and sports personalities, as well as members of the Royal Family.
Referring to Diana without naming her directly, he said: "After the Queen, she was the most famous woman in the world.
Princess Diana's former tax lawyer has denied the £2million evasion charges
|GETTY
"She was killed in a car crash in Paris."
Mr Venables denies all charges against him. His defence continues on Thursday.
During his testimony, Mr Venables launched a pointed attack on HMRC's expertise, declaring: "Standards have dropped."
The barrister recalled how officers at the former Customs and Excise agency showed "little interest in the law," though he expressed greater respect for the "calibre" of Inland Revenue staff.
Evidence was heard at Southwark Crown Court
|GETTY
He told the court the 2005 merger of these two bodies was meant to improve legal standards, but the opposite had occurred.
"Nowadays you have all sorts of so-called specialists who are quite sure they know everything about everything," he said.
"They don't take external advice and they don't take internal advice. They are difficult to deal with, much more strong-headed, much more sure they are right, and I'm afraid the fusion of the two didn't work out as planned."
Mr Venables also recounted leaving officials "incandescent" after winning an inheritance tax case in the 1980s.
The prosecution alleges Mr Venables established an "elaborate" arrangement to avoid paying tax on a portion of his barrister's income.
Princess Diana on her wedding day to King Charles in 1981 | PAAccording to prosecutor Julian Christopher KC, Mr Venables had positioned himself throughout his career as an "adversary of HMRC," acting for taxpayers in disputes with the revenue authority.
The charges relate to self-assessment returns submitted between 2014 and 2021, during which time Mr Venables allegedly "falsely declared the amount of his income for taxation purposes."
The court heard that the KC directed his earnings through an entity called the RVQC Partnership, in which he was the sole income generator, but profits were shared among partners, including himself, purportedly to reduce his tax liability.
Payments made to his gardener and housekeeper are also alleged to form part of the evasion scheme.
Mr Venables told the court he came from modest beginnings in South Yorkshire, growing up in what he described as a "Coronation Street house" illuminated by candles and gas lamps, warmed by an open fire, with only a single cold water tap.
His family kept pigs, hens and ducks in the back garden to supplement their income.
"We may not have had much money but we actually didn't feel deprived," he said.
The barrister won a scholarship to grammar school before securing a place at Merton College, Oxford, to read classics, working as a postman, waiter, barman and foundry worker during his studies.
An early attempt to join chambers failed when he was told he was "a bit of a boffin" who "didn't have the social airs and graces."
After speech therapy and voice projection classes, he eventually joined chambers and experienced what he called a "meteoric rise."