When Paul Burrell Alleged Princess Diana Suspected She Was Being Both 'Followed and Watched'

In 1995, Princess Diana sat down for her tell-all Panorama interview with Martin Bashir, where she addressed Prince Charles's adultery and famously said, "There were three people in this marriage, so it was rather crowded." Paul Burrell, the late Princess of Wales's former butler, and Andrew Morton, her biographer, both spoke with ITV in a two-part documentary titled The Diana Interview: Revenge Of A Princess. The documentary aired in 2020, on the 25th anniversary of Diana's historic interview. In the documentary, Burrell shared that Diana was paranoid about her safety. According to the former royal butler, she believed that she and her friends were being watched and followed.

As per Yahoo! News UK, Morton claimed, “Diana certainly was very concerned about the Secret Services, about MI5, about MI6. There were bizarre things going on inside the households of the Prince and Princess of Wales. Her bodyguard, Ken Wharfe, who left her service...felt that he was being followed." He added, “Her confidante, Richard Kay, a Daily Mail journalist, was burgled several times and he took to employing a private detective. My own office was broken into, so there's a catalog of things.”

Morton alleged that there were documents that indicated that payments were being sent anonymously to Allan Waller, a former employee of Earl Spencer (Diana's brother). He asserted, “Diana knew about the documents, they would have been proof positive that there were machinations against her or others in her family and elsewhere, and they would underscore the credibility of Martin Bashir, who was insinuating himself into her life."

As per BBC, false documents were allegedly used by Bashir to gain the late princess's trust and persuade her to agree to an interview for Panorama. Waller was working as Earl Spencer's head of security back then. According to a 2021 investigation headed by Lord Dyson, Bashir used 'deceitful' tactics and the company declared that it had settled with Waller.

Eventually, the BBC put out an official apology. "The BBC has agreed to pay Mr. Waller an agreed sum in damages and to pay his reasonable costs and apologizes to him for the false information included in the fabricated bank statements used to procure the 1995 Interview with Diana, Princess of Wales. The BBC hopes that Mr. Waller is now able to draw a line under this chapter, and we wish him the best for the future."

Additionally, Burrell stated that “The princess did suspect that she was being followed, that she was being watched. She was under surveillance, whether it was phone hacking or spying. There were occasions when we pulled up the floorboards and unscrewed the end of the telephones to see if there were any listening devices. The princess wasn't paranoid, but she was concerned.”  

As per The Guardian, Burrell held on to a private letter written by Diana which described her paranoia right before her untimely death. Dated October 1996, the letter read, "I am sitting here at my desk today in October, longing for someone to hug me and encourage me to keep strong and hold my head high. This particular phase in my life is the most dangerous _ X is planning 'an accident' in my car, brake failure, and serious head injury in order to make the path clear for Charles to marry."

She continued, "I have been battered, bruised, and abused mentally by a system for 15 years now, but I feel no resentment...I am strong inside and maybe that is a problem for my enemies. Thank you, Charles, for putting me through such hell and for giving me the opportunity to learn from the cruel things you have done to me." On August 31, 1997, the Princess of Wales and her boyfriend at the time, Dodi Fayed, tragically passed away in an accident.