On 20th Anniversary Of Her Death, Princess Diana’s Bodyguard Breaks Silence

Princess Diana’s longtime bodyguard is speaking out on the 20th anniversary of her death. In a column for The Daily Mail, Ken Wharfe, who was her personal protection officer, is pointing the finger at who he believes is responsible for the People’s Princess’ sudden death.

Wharfe blames Diana’s bodyguards for her death. They were ill-equipped to handle security for someone of Diana’s fame. Trevor Rees-Jones, her bodyguard the night of her death, had only been providing protection for a matter of weeks. Rees-Jones was the sole survivor of the deadly Paris crash.

None of Princess Diana’s bodyguards at the time of her death were from the Metropolitan police protection squad. Rather, they worked for the Fayed family. Diana had been romantically linked to Dodi Fayed at the time of her death.

“I am still angry beyond words that this team of ‘bodyguards’ let her come to harm. Our department had the care of her personal safety for some 15 years: Fayed’s crew were in charge of her security for just eight weeks before she died,” Wharfe wrote.

“Rees-Jones was a former soldier who had not received the training necessary to protect a member of the Royal Family,” he continued. “When he first heard he’d been appointed by the Fayed family to guard Diana in France, he could have informally contacted Scotland Yard for a briefing.”

A protection officer needs to have intelligence training to protect someone like the Princess. They also have to coordinate with local police. Diana’s security didn’t do that. Wharfe said Rees-Jones should never have allowed Dodi Fayed to play “beat the paparazzi,” ordering the chauffeur to drive too fast, which led to the fatal crash.

Ultimately, multiple people are to blame for Diana’s sudden death. The royal bodyguards would never have allowed her to get into a car with a drunk driver. But, Dodi Fayed bore responsibility for his “erratic behavior” and providing her with inadequate security.

Rees-Jones was an employee of Fayed and ultimately had to do as he was told. Rees-Jones didn’t object to Fayed saying Henri Paul should drive, even though the bodyguard says Paul had been drinking alcohol.

There is plenty of blame to go around, but it centers around the security failures of Fayed and his staff.

“The local police were not engaged, the British embassy was not engaged, you had a chauffeur who was not a chauffeur, he was a security adviser within the Ritz hotel and an alcoholic,” Wharfe stated. “There was no proper liaison with Diana and [boyfriend] Dodi Fayed about how they were going to plan this departure. Going out of the rear entrance trying to escape the paparazzi, no one had talked to the press. There was no suggestion of actually setting up a photo opportunity [for the press pack] and looking for a police escort.”

The real victims of this tragedy were Princes William and Harry. William was 15 and Harry was merely 12. These boys were incredibly close to their mother and still feel her void 20 years later. Recently, they spoke about their final phone call with their mother. You can see that in the video below.

It does appear Princess Diana’s security failed her. But, there is plenty of blame to go around. Prince Harry also blames the paparazzi for causing her death that night. You can see that interview by clicking here.

Share this if you remember Princess Diana!

Source: Fox News