THE DIANA WE LOVED
TRUSTED CONFIDANTS
Phil Dampier has been reporting on the royals for 30 years and witnessed Princess Diana’s most groundbreaking moments. Here, he shares his unique perspective on the spark that saw her win hearts around the world.
I will never forget the day [Diana] shook the hand of an AIDS victim in a London clinic – a gesture which caused a worldwide sensation at the time.
It’s impossible to overstate the power of Diana’s actions, and almost overnight she changed perceptions about those suffering with the then-unknown and misunderstood virus.
I could feel the electricity in the room as Diana weaved her magic, leaving patients as well as doctors and nurses energised and elated by her injection of care and support.
Although Diana left school with no qualifications and admitted she had ‘a brain the size of a pea’, she was undoubtedly a great communicator, capable
Her chef, bodyguard and favourite journalist tell of the princess they knew so well
of charming presidents and prime ministers, as well as the thousands of ordinary people she met on walkabouts.
She often used her beauty and cheeky sense of humour on us – the ‘Rat Pack’ of reporters following her every move.
Barely able to disguise an obsession with clothes, she would make quips like: ‘Not sure about that tie’ or ‘Are you wearing those shoes for a bet?’
On a tour of Brazil, she spotted me wearing a pair of shorts and a floral shirt on a blazing hot day under the statue of Christ the Redeemer in Rio, and joked: ‘I see you’ve dressed for the occasion!’
One of my rivals became convinced she was looking him up and down in a suggestive way. We told him not to be so vain and that he had a vivid imagination.
Yet, less than a year later, Andrew Morton had written the biggest-selling royal book of all time, after being selected by Diana to tell her side of her broken marriage.
In those days, wherever the royals went we would follow – including their holidays. When Charles and Diana took William and Harry to stay with King Juan Carlos of Spain in Majorca, the party would disappear over the horizon on his speedboat The Fortuna.
But the yacht was always followed by a Spanish naval frigate – and we tagged on behind in a hired craft.
Whenever we found the royal party a couple of hours later having a picnic in a remote cove, Diana would sense we were there and duly strip off to her bikini, knowing the pictures would be front-page news the next day.
She was telling the world how gorgeous she was – and why not?
On two holidays to Necker Island, Richard Branson’s Caribbean retreat, Di did the same – only this time without Charles. By then their marriage was on the rocks, and the princess posed in a sexy sarong, sending a message that he was missing out.
All round the world I saw the extraordinary charisma of Diana first-hand, and I feel privileged that I was there at a unique moment in history when this remarkable woman was the most famous person in the world.
It’s tragic that she is no longer with us, but her legacy lives on through the work of her sons, and I’m convinced Diana would have approved of Harry’s relationship with actress Meghan Markle.
She would have said: ‘If you love her – go for it!’ NI
Richard Kay was the journalist closest to Diana in her last five years. The then-royal reporter for the UK Daily Mail became a trusted confidant and spoke to Diana by phone just a few hours before she died.
The most obvious legacy of Diana is her sons William, 35, and Harry, 32, and how she has allowed them to have the life they lead, and become the young men they are.
William has been criticised for getting to his mid-30s without taking on many royal duties, but that was Diana’s idea.
She wanted her boys to have as normal a childhood as possible and not to put them under too much pressure.
She thought that if they were pushed too hard, they would go the other way.
She wanted Harry to go to school at Eton so that he could be with his brother William, even though he wasn’t academically inclined.
So she cut them a lot of slack, and Charles went along with it – it was one of the few things they agreed on.
It’s because of his mother Diana that William was able to marry a middle-class girl like Kate Middleton.
Diana came from an aristocratic background, but she encouraged them to mingle with people from all classes from an early age.
That is why William and Harry are so popular with the public and throughout the world, and that is why they are able to carry out their work and make a real difference.
There is no doubt that Diana transformed the royal family and dragged it towards the 21st century. She totally changed the way they were perceived, and humanised the rather stuffy institution.
Then, of course, she highlighted her various causes, such as her attitude towards AIDS and her international campaign to ban landmines.
People forget how AIDS victims were stigmatised and people were literally afraid to touch them, like lepers.
Diana changed all that and led the way.
When she shook an AIDS victim’s hand, the picture went around the world and made all the difference.
Being in a hospital and comforting dying people was just something she wanted to do, and often she did it in private.
She just wanted to be out there doing something and making a contribution, maybe because she was unhappy in her personal life, but it was important all the same.
After a few years, I think she and Charles would have got on and reached an understanding, and of course she would have been so proud to have seen William and Harry grow up, and to see them get married and have their own children.
She told me she was happy with Dodi Fayed, but I’m not sure she would have married him, and certainly her relationship with him was like a red rag to a bull as far as the royals were concerned – as they had fallen out with his father Mohamed Al-fayed.
But if she had gone on to marry someone else, things could have worked out.
Her trouble was finding the right man.
She used to say to me: ‘Ricardo, I have been married to the Prince of Wales, the future king, so who can I marry now?’
It’s sobering and sad to think that if she had worn a seatbelt, she would probably have survived the car crash and she would be alive today – a vibrant middle-aged woman with so much to give. NI
Darren Mcgrady was Diana’s chef between 1993 and 1997, after she lured him away from working with Queen Elizabeth.
Diana is said to have fallen in love with his bread and butter puddings, telling one reporter: ‘They are the best in the world.’
In fact, Darren worked so hard for the princess that it is believed his first marriage broke down as a result of his long hours.
Darren later went on to suffer a hernia, leading to time off work, but he was still devoted to the princess, making sure he was on call 24 hours a day.
After Diana’s death he moved to the US, where he is happily remarried and has three children.
Diana and I had the same sense of humour and I have so many happy memories.
Her greatest legacy is her boys, who she brought up so well.
She wasn’t strict at all – she let them be boys, young boys!
There was always a battle between her and the nanny, who might say they were having cabbage with dinner.
The princess would say: ‘No, if they’re with me and they want loaded potato skins and fried chicken, then they can have that.
‘And if they don’t eat it and they still want pudding, they can have that too!’
She was so relaxed with them. I believe that’s why they have grown up as fine men.
They were royal children, but Diana made sure they had a normal upbringing.
When William and Harry were at home, the food was put on the sideboard and they just went up and helped themselves, as opposed to in the palace where they were formally served each course.
I was just honoured to be in the right place at the right time and watch William and Harry grow up.
I was watching Harry at the Invictus Games and read the interviews where he said he doesn’t remember a great deal about his mum. I’d love to sit down with him and talk to him and let him know what she was really like.
She absolutely adored the two of them. She would be so thrilled right now with both of them, especially with Harry and his charity work.
He’s his mother’s son – you can see that in the way he acts naturally with young kids.
He’s just incredible... it would be just great if he marries Meghan [Markle]!
Darren, who campaigned for Diana’s grave at Althorp to be cleaned up after it became overgrown by vegetation, recalls her friendship with late singer George Michael (above, with Elton John).
They were great friends and she loved his sense of humour. She felt relaxed with him and he was like one of the girls.
It’s very sad to think they are no longer with us, but they have both left a lasting legacy.
She was a fun-loving mum!
Ken Wharfe was a protection officer to Diana, Prince William and Prince Harry from 1986 to 1993. Here, he shares his memories of that time in his book Diana: Closely Guarded Secret... On a cold November morning at Sandringham House, Norfolk, in 1986, I waited nervously next to the housekeeper’s office to be met by a royal butler and then introduced to a woman who was to change the face of the British monarchy forever. That woman was Diana, the Princess of Wales. I had been appointed to protect her two young sons, William and Harry. With a clipped, wellspoken voice, the butler introduced me as ‘Inspector Wharfe from London, your Royal Highness’, bowed, and left the room at a quick though somewhat theatrical pace. Diana stood up from her seated position on a large, white sofa, while William was attempting to play the piano. Harry, to my left, stood on a small round table.
With an outstretched hand and a beaming smile, Diana said: ‘I don’t envy you looking after my boys, they can be a bloody nuisance,’ at which point William swivelled round on the piano stool and said loudly: ‘We’re not a bloody nuisance, are we Harry?’
‘No,’ replied Harry, falling from the small table, followed by a crystal vase of lilies.
William, anticipating his mother’s wrath, ran towards the door, followed closely by his brother, with Diana in hot pursuit.
This was not the introduction I expected.
Diana was soon to return with William and Harry, forced to apologise for their behaviour.
I said: ‘There’s no need to apologise, seems fairly normal to me,’ to which Diana replied: ‘There’s not a lot of that around here, and I intend to change it!’
William and Harry were not dispatched to far-away boarding schools, or tutored privately at Kensington Palace.
It was at Diana’s insistence that they be educated – albeit privately – at schools initially close to home, and that newfound friends were openly encouraged to return after school to Kensington Palace, and this became very much the norm.
Although seen by many as being exceptionally privileged, to Diana, this was a break from royal tradition, and an education that was in her eyes ‘normal’.
William – now a father himself – has already indicated that his children will follow in his footsteps.
William and Kate decided to
raise Prince George and Princess Charlotte away from London at their country house in Norfolk, considered by many observers as a choice that echoed Diana’s desire to lead – and give ‘her boys’ – a normal life.
It looks almost certain now that William and Kate will spend a greater proportion of their time at Kensington Palace, with indications that Prince George will begin his pre-preparatory schooling in London.
I, perhaps like many, imagined royalty transcended normality, and with an army of servants, life for many royals was not having to worry about everyday responsibilities.
Diana, however, while genuinely appreciative of help, was adamant she would play her part as a parent to ensure her two sons would not be blinkered from the real world. NI
‘Diana said: “I don’t envy you looking after my boys, they can be a bloody nuisance”’