Princess Diana Thought She Was Being Spied On During Her Final Trip: "She Was Very Upset..."

The tragic deaths of Princess Diana, her partner Dodi Fayed, and their driver Henri Paul in a Paris car crash on August 31, 1997, remain one of the most discussed and scrutinized events in modern history. The inquest into their deaths has revealed startling details, such as Diana’s suspicions and fears about those closest to her. Diana’s sister, Lady Sarah McCorquodale, testified during the inquest that Diana suspected Mohammed Al Fayed of spying on her while aboard his luxury yacht, the Jonikal. During a phone call from the yacht, Diana confided her concerns, believing the vessel had been bugged. McCorquodale revealed, "Yes, she thought the boat was being bugged by Mr. Al Fayed senior."

As per CBC, McCorquodale noted Diana’s distress during this conversation, adding that the romance between Diana and Fayed was nearing its end. Diana’s apparent agitation with a misquoted article about her landmine campaign and her belief that Fayed wouldn’t help address the issue further highlighted tensions in the relationship. McCorquodale remarked, "There had been an article in a French newspaper, Le Monde, about landmines. She was very upset because she felt she had been misquoted and as a result had appeared to look like she was criticising the government. She was distraught. From that, I just did not think that the relationship had much longer to go."

Reportedly, Diana was in a deep state of paranoia. Another bombshell revelation emerged from Diana’s former butler, Paul Burrell, who disclosed a letter Diana had given him in 1996. In the note, she expressed fears that Prince Charles was orchestrating a plan for “an accident in my car, brake failure, and serious head injury” to clear the way for him to marry another woman. Diana’s suspicions were documented just 10 months before her fatal accident. This was revealed in Burrell’s 2003 book A Royal Duty, painting a grim picture of Diana’s paranoia in the years following her divorce from Prince Charles.

As per The Independent, during the inquest, the validity of the letter was questioned. Close confidante Lucia Flecha da Lima suggested, “Paul Burrell was perfectly capable of imitating Princess Diana’s handwriting. I don’t believe she was fearing for her life, especially from Prince Charles, the future king of your country.” Moreover, Burrell himself dismissed the idea that the Royal Family could have been involved in Diana’s death, calling the notion ‘impossible.’ The 1999 French inquiry concluded that Henri Paul, the driver, was at fault for the crash, citing his intoxication and excessive speed as key factors. 

However, Mohammed Al Fayed has long maintained that Diana and Fayed were victims of a conspiracy involving British intelligence and the Royal Family, allegedly orchestrated by Prince Philip. The inquest delved into theories about whether Diana had been under surveillance. A British detective revealed the disappearance of a box allegedly containing correspondence between Diana and Prince Philip, posing further questions about the incidents leading up to her death. The 2008 inquest ruled that the crash was caused by the gross negligence of Paul and the pursuing paparazzi. It deemed the deaths of Diana and Fayed “unlawful killings.”