Diana's Ex-Bodyguard Claims 3 Simple Things Could've Prevented Her Tragic Death: "If They Had..."

Princess Diana won the world with her grace and kindness. Her tragic passing in a Paris car crash on August 31, 1997, still fuels public outcry. The grief of her demise was deeply felt by those close to her, including her ex-bodyguard, Ken Wharfe, who revealed that the Princess would still be alive if three things had gone differently that fateful night.

Wharfe, who served as Diana's protection officer from 1987 to 1993, told The Sun that simple safety measures could have had the Princess hale and hearty today. Firstly, he said, “If they’d kicked out the chauffeur,” and her then-bodyguard, Trevor Reese-Jones had driven the car instead. Wharfe also blamed Dodi Al Fayed, Diana’s partner, for this mishap. Dodi allegedly knew that Henri Paul was drunk and nevertheless let him drive the car.

The former bodyguard also argued that the Princess and her partner made a mistake by goading the media and that Dodi's father Mohammad Al Fayed's 'controlling attitude' was responsible for the death. Journalist Andrew Neil too had asserted that it was Dodi’s last-minute decision to take a roundabout route through a tunnel to get Diana to his apartment close to the Champs-Elysées. This decision was taken to escape the swarm of paparazzi. The third factor that could have been done differently was Diana’s refusal to keep the Scotland Yard security team post-divorce. “Had the Queen [Elizabeth II] insisted that Diana retain her Scotland Yard security, Diana would have accepted it,” Wharfe said. He believed that the gross negligence and absence of security were to be blamed for Diana’s demise.

According to the Guardian, in a 2007 interview with TODAY co-host, Meredith Vieira, Wharfe shared, “I don’t think the paparazzi played a role. What was wrong was that the bodyguard failed to communicate with the paparazzi to strike a deal. All they wanted was a picture.” Instead, the security personnel nudged the couple out of their hotel to escape the paparazzi, which ultimately backfired. The official French investigation, however, concluded that the driver Paul's intoxication and high speed were the primary causes of the crash. Meanwhile, a British inquest argued that the paparazzi and Paul’s ‘gross negligence’ caused the fateful car crash.

Diana’s death led to numerous conspiracy theories as the world processed her passing. Mohammad, for instance, believed that Diana was allegedly assassinated in a planned murder attempt by the royal family. He also believed that her relationship with Dodi, a Muslim, was viewed as a threat to the monarchy. Others proposed that the crash may have been orchestrated by the French secret service or other agencies. Despite the official verdict, the conspiracy theories surrounding her death continue to captivate the public to this day.