Did Mohamed Al-Fayed Seal Princess Diana's Fate? Late Royal's Bodyguard Says 'Control Freak' Mogul's 'Attitude' of 'Fear' Over Staff Led to Tragic Crash in August 1997

Deceased Mohamed al-Fayed, who is posthumously accused of multiple counts of rape and sexual assault, is now facing an allegation from Diana, Princess of Wales's former bodyguard, Ken Wharfe.

He told an outlet, "Fayed himself was controlling this whole affair, [the] whole movement, of Diana and his son Dodi from his office in Park Lane."

"The most important point is what's occurred recently in light of these allegations about Fayed and his pursuit of staff, was the fear he inherited in his staff, and this controlling attitude," he added. "For me, this is exactly what happened in Paris in 1997."

The former security officer highlighted how al-Fayed's protection squad surrounding the princess, 36, and the owner of Harrods' son, Dodi, 42, had only been on the job for eight weeks. Wharfe was responsible for ensuring the then "most famous woman in the world" was protected "for nearly 15 years." He personally served as Diana's first-line bodyguard from 1987 to 1993.

With al-Fayed now accused of sexual assault "by hundreds of women across the world" going back decades, Wharfe pointed out how many of the victims were his staff, and it was the tycoon's instillation of "fear" in his workforce that led to the August 31, 1997, car crash in Paris.

The princess, one year divorced from then-Prince Charles, Dodi and intoxicated driver Henri Paul, all died from their injuries. al-Fayed bodyguard Trevor Rees-Jones was the only survivor and has no memory of the wreck.

Wharfe continued, "You can't control a protection operation when you're not in the country. The point is I have some sympathy here for people like Rees-Jones and [Kez] Wingfield, and others in the security team because they were fearful of saying what they think should happen, if that in any way went against what Fayed wanted, or even what Dodi wanted."

"Although I've been very critical of that operation in Paris, with some justification, the reason why that happened, it was because of Rees-Jones and the security team, but they were so fearful of what Fayed would say if they for once recommended something that he disagreed with," the former bodyguard further observed.

Wharfe said that Paul, who was "out of this world drunk" at the time, "was the cause of the accident, but they couldn't [fire him]" because "he had been a key member of the Fayed dynasty for 15, 16 years, he was much higher up that rung of authority than either Rees-Jones or Wingfield. If they had taken him out of that driving seat it would not have happened. But it was the fear and control that Fayed had that prevailed over these people."

al-Fayed passed away on August 30, 2023, at the age of 94.

The Sun interviewed Wharfe.