Darryn Lyons & Diana, Princess of Wales
The Australian entrepreneur and former royals paparazzo makes shocking claims about the tragic death of Princess Diana
The world will never truly know what happened on the night of Princess Diana’s death – these are the words of former celebrity paparazzo Darryn Lyons who, 21 years on, still believes there’s a huge number of unanswered questions surrounding that fateful evening in Paris.
Now, in a tell-all interview with WHO, Lyons has likened the death of the “people’s princess” to that of US President John F. Kennedy, who was assassinated as he rode his motorcade through Dealey Plaza in Dallas, Texas, on Nov. 22, 1963. “Knowing people assassinate people in different ways, I think there are questions still to be answered,” Lyons says matter-of-factly. “Just like there is a huge amount relating to the death of JFK and whether or not he was he killed by the FBI. In my opinion, I probably think he was murdered as well.”
In the ’90s, Lyons, who photographed the royals and other celebrities in the UK for years, also ran a photo agency that supplied paparazzi shots to news outlets. He can recall every detail of the night he learnt Princess Diana had been involved in a car accident. At the time, Lyons believed Diana had suffered a minor injury in the accident, and began phoning around newspapers to sell photos of her at the scene, taken by one of his agency’s photographers.
“I knew I was in the midst of the greatest news story in my lifetime and I was the one who had the pictures,” he remembers. “I had some great advice from my great friend Piers Morgan – we had long discussions about this. Prior to speaking to him in the middle of the night, I only put out low-res.”
But as soon as he learnt of Diana’s death, in the early hours of Aug. 31, 1997, Lyons withdrew the photos from sale – which he says “nobody could ever have actually published” – and has pledged they will never be seen while he’s alive. “We just thought she was in an accident. We knew Dodi [Fayed] was dead but we didn’t think the Princess of Wales was, so it came as a huge shock when the news came through that she’d been driven around Paris and not saved in the hospital.”
In a shocking revelation, Lyons also opened up about his love/ hate relationship with Diana and he vividly recalls the moment she asked him to keep an eye on Prince Charles. “She knocked on my door one day and said, ‘ Why aren’t you photographing my husband?’ and I said, ‘ Why would I be photographing him? He’s got big ears, a big nose and he’s ugly and talks to trees’ – even though I have a lot of respect for the Prince of Wales,” Lyons tells WHO. “It was a subtle tip-off about his affair with Camilla – about six to 12 months before Squidgygate broke.”
Lyons says Diana’s legacy of prompting change within the royal family is now stifling the younger generation. “Diana publicly told the world how she felt; [Meghan and Kate] will be under severe constraints. They will not in any shape or form be allowed to open their mouths in a negative way against the royal family,” explains Lyons, who recently opened a Sydney gallery to showcase his photography. “I think they’re all sanitised, I don’t think they’re allowed to be themselves.”
He also explains that the UK privacy laws were strengthened as a result of the chasing paparazzi being blamed for Diana’s death. “No question [the young royals] are much safer and that’s been a deliberate situation.”
In remembering Diana, Lyons has nothing but positive things to say. “Diana and I had a mixed relationship,” he recalls. “There’s some people you look into their eyes and they just light you up from the inside, and send a chill up and down your spine.”
In his opinion, none of the younger royals have her charisma. “There’s no X-factor in the royal family,” he says, adding that Meghan will draw American fans. “That has been a PR coup and I think a lot of it is very deliberate. Meghan is a product of spreading the royal brand. And the royal brand is big money now.”
In addition to the never-been-seen photos from the night of Diana’s tragic death, Lyons says he has plenty more that he never chose to publish – despite how valuable they may be. “My safe is pretty strong with interesting pictures of some celebrities that have never been published. It’s tucked away around several places around the world under lock and key.
“That’ll be for the next generation, whoever that may be. That won’t be down to me.” •