Princess Diana’s former bodyguard has made dramatic new claims that the late royal feared she “might be assassinated” before her sudden death in 1997.
Lee Sansum was a celebrity bodyguard employed by the father of Dodi al-Fayed, Diana’s boyfriend when she died, to protect the couple during their tragic visit to St Tropez in 1997.
He claims he became close with the Princess of Wales and that she confided in during the summer holiday, sometimes “in tears”.
Speaking to The Sun, Sansum alleged that Diana was particularly concerned after her friend and Italian fashion designer Gianni Versace was killed after being shot outside his US home in July 1997.
Diana pictured during her final St Tropez holiday.
(Image: Getty)“She asked if I thought his murder outside his home was a professional killing,” he revealed.
“I thought it was. Then she said something that always stayed with me – ‘Do you think they’ll do that to me?'”
Sansum claimed the princess was “shaking” as she asked him and it was “clear from her tone” that she genuinely believed she may be the target of unnamed assassins.
“I spent some time reassuring her that no one was going to try to kill her and she was safe with us, but she definitely thought there was a risk that one day she might be assassinated,” he added.
The former bodyguard, now 60, also alleged that Diana had plans to relocate to the US with Dodi and told him she was “definitely going” before her death soon after.
The Princess of Wales was killed in a tragic car crash in a Paris tunnel in August 1997.
Though Diana never made it to the US, where Sansum claims she hoped to “get some respite” from the UK media circus, he believes her plan influenced her son Prince Harry.
He and wife Meghan, Duchess of Sussex relocated to California with their son Archie in 2020 and are now raising him and their youngest child, daughter Lilibet, in the US.
Diana in 1997, shortly before her tragic death.
(Image: Getty)“His mother saw America as a place of sanctuary. He will be drawing on his experiences from then,” Sansum claimed.
This isn’t the first time sources close to Diana have suggested she feared an early death and there has been speculation and conspiracy theories about the car crash that killed her for decades.
Her two sons, Prince William and Harry, were just teenagers when they lost their mother and had to endure painful media scrutiny for years after.
With the 25th anniversary of her death approaching on August 31, 2022, both princes are expected to honour their late mother’s memory in some way.
