Bodyguard Makes A Bold Claim About Princess Diana's Plans Before Her Tragic Death
The 25th anniversary of Princess Diana's tragic death on August 31, 1997 is only days away, but no matter how much time passes, she's still missed just as much as when the news first broke. Nicknamed "The People's Princess," Diana transformed from a lonely young woman into royalty after marrying Prince Charles. Though she was admired for her relatability and dedication to humanitarian work, per CNN, she also attracted rabid media attention. Just before her death, she was called "the most photographed woman in the world" by the press, with photographers following her everywhere from the airport to her own apartment (via The New York Times).
The paparazzi were, tragically, also present when Diana's car crashed, leading to her death. And by many accounts, the swarming paparazzi allegedly the crash in the first place, though it's also worth noting that the driver of her car was reportedly drunk at a level three times the French legal limit, according to the BBC.
Now, in a new book titled "Protecting Diana: A Bodyguard's Story," Diana's former bodyguard claims that Diana had big plans to escape the media frenzy for good.
Princess Diana planned to leave the UK
In his book (via Page Six), bodyguard Lee Sansum reveals what he claims would have been Princess Diana's next life-changing decision, had she survived her car crash. Sansum accompanied Diana, her boyfriend Dodi Al-Fayed, and Princes William and Harry on a July 1997 St. Tropez yacht trip, where paparazzi persistently followed. The bodyguard wrote that Diana confided in him, "There is nothing I can do in the UK. The papers there attack me no matter what I do. ... I want to go to the US and live there so I can get away from it all. At least in America they like me and will leave me alone." Her plan would require leaving her sons behind, only seeing them on school holidays. And, according to the book, she was so determined to follow this plan that she even threatened to directly notify the press that she would be leaving the UK.
Diana's dream of moving abroad may seem questionable, given that she would have been abandoning her two children. But, as quoted by Newsweek, Sansum points out that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle made a similar move, citing the "toxic" British media as the reason they left the UK for California (per NBC News). The Duke of Sussex may be living out the life Diana had imagined, telling People, "I honor my mother in everything I do. I am my mother's son."