According to Ken Wharfe, Princess Diana’s former bodyguard, three fatal security breaches contributed to her tragic d.e.a.t.h.
It’s hard to think it’s been nearly 30 years since Princess Diana’s untimely d.e.a.t.h. The world lost an icon and a humanitarian, as well as two young boys lost their mother. It’s impossible not to wonder what she’d be like now – how she’d appear, what position she’d play, and how she would have influenced the world.
A dangerous driver behind the wheel
Ken Wharfe, her former bodyguard of six years, remembers her lovingly.
Wharfe, who worked as her personal protection officer from 1987 to 1993, believes that the People’s Princess could still be alive today if important decisions had been made differently.
One of the most crucial errors, according to Wharfe, was who was driving the automobile on that fatal August night of 1997.
Diana was traveling with her boyfriend, Egyptian film producer Dodi Fayed, Ritz security chief Henri Paul, who drove, and Dodi’s bodyguard, Trevor Rees-Jones, the crash’s lone survivor.
Unfortunately, Paul had been drinking before getting behind the wheel and was driving at dangerously high speeds when his automobile collided with the 13th pillar of the Pont de l’Alma tunnel in Paris. Wharfe believes Diana could have survived if someone else had been driving.
A fatal attempt to outsmart the paparazzi
Diana and Dodi’s first intention was to go a short distance from the Ritz Hotel to an apartment near the Champs-Elysées. Another significant error that night was the lack of planning and collaboration — or, more accurately, the complete absence of communication — with the local police over the automobile journey.
Wharfe feels the tragedy could have been avoided totally if Dodi and Diana’s security staff had collaborated with local police rather than isolating them and viewed the press as “the enemy.”
To avoid the press, they created a plan involving fake cars. A Range Rover was parked at the Ritz’s front entrance, with Dodi’s customary driver behind the wheel, while Diana and Dodi exited through the back in a black armored Mercedes.
Henri Paul, who was four times over the legal drinking limit in France, had been summoned from home to drive them. The high-speed chase that ensued ended in disaster, with the Mercedes colliding at nearly 60 mph.
The lack of a security team
Wharfe believes Diana’s choice to terminate her Scotland Yard security staff was the biggest avoidable blunder. After splitting from Prince Charles in 1992, she eventually relinquished her royal protection.
Despite his warning, Diana fired her whole security crew only four weeks later. Wharfe is confident that if Queen Elizabeth had insisted she keep them, Diana would have complied.
Diana’s d.e.a.t.h caused shockwaves around the world, dominating news for weeks. While her funeral became a historical moment of sadness, the horrific images of her crushed car live on in the imaginations of many.
More than two decades later, the argument over what could have rescued Diana persists. But for Ken Wharfe, the answers are obvious: three critical actions sealed her fate that night. Do you agree with him?
