Rewarded with a bombshell interview that has rekindled old controversies, Princess Diana’s former bodyguard has now spoken after 28 years to corroborate one of the most frightening details during the night before her ill-fated 1997 trip to Paris.
The anonymous guard, talking only to one of the principal news channels, disclosed that Diana had received an anonymous typed letter advising her to call off all travel plans.
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The message was a clue to some unresolved issues related to her brash philanthropy that was said to have rubbed the wrong people the wrong way in the arms trade.
On August 30, 1997, Dian, who was dear to the humanitarian ventures such as the anti-landmine campaign, was planning to travel to Paris with Dodi Fayed.
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The letter came mysteriously to her residence, and the bodyguard claims that it was a warning of possible danger, as it was not specifically stated.
The bodyguard said it was typed, there was no signature, and it was a bare-bones message to remain where he was. Diana was shocked and resolute. She dismissed it as some scare tactic, but I knew she was scared by the look in her eyes.”
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This disclosure contributes to the conspiracy theories that have existed since the day Diana died in a car crash at high speed the following day.
Paparazzi chases and dangerous driving were officially blamed on the accident, which also took the lives of Dodi and driver Henri Paul.
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However, critics have always wondered whether foul play was involved because Diana herself, in a handwritten note dated 1996, wrote that she would predict a staged car accident by her then ex-husband, Prince Charles.
The bodyguard testimony is controversial, and some experts termed it a game-changer. A threat by those angered over her advocacy of landmines, one royal historian observed, was that there were threats to her in this letter in the event it was true.
It had created enemies in high places—the arms dealers who felt she was threatening their gains. Some call it sensationalism, saying there is no hard evidence that the letter has any correlation with the crash.
Such allegations have been made in the past; there was no conspiracy in the investigation, a senior palace source responded.
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Diana was widely praised and criticized for her charity activities, which had included her well-known journey through an Angolan minefield.
Accounts at the time indicate that she was given implicit threats, including a 1997 telephone warning to stop poking her nose into what she did not know about. Here, this new information brings new questions: Was the letter overlooked or concealed?
The world is approaching 30 years without her, and the bodyguard hopes his story can bring closure. Diana should have been better shielded, he said. This was a red letter that we could not disregard.
However, it adds more mystery to the story. Was her death an accident or something more evil? New investigations into the last days of the People’s Princess are a buzzword among fans and skeptics alike.