Theprincess, the playboy, theauthor andanelephant

August 1997

IT SOUNDS like the script for a film itself - the playboy film director and the princess collaborating to produce a film. But it could be a reality, and Delgany-based screenwriter Gordon Thomas finds himself at the centre of the action.

The love affair between Princess Diana and Dodi Al Fayed became the focus of a media frenzy in County Wicklow last weekend and Gordon Thomas found himself a the centre of it all.

For it appears that the Harrod’s heir who owns a film company in America wants to produces Thomas’ latest film, ‘Mambo’ and present animal-lover Di with the opportunity to co-produce it. ‘Mambo’ is the story of an elephant which leads its family out of war torn Africa through landmines and would seem like the perfect opportunity for the princess to launch herself into the film world. The first Thomas knew of Al Fayed’s interest was on Saturday night when the London Sunday Mirror contacted him in Delgany with news of a story from Hollywood that Dodi wished to produce the film with Diana. ‘It just grew from there,’ said Thomas. ‘I was told by reporter after reporter that Dodi planned to give Di the opportunity to co-produce this 60 million dollar movie and that Mambo fitted all her concerns about the world today.’

However the more this 64-year-old author protested that he could not confirm whether or not Dodi would lead his new love away into Hollywood the more frantic the demands came from reporters who were calling his home from all over the world.

‘All I could tell them was that I would certainly have no problems with Di coming on board in a production role. If Liz Hurley can do it with Hugh Grant there is no reason why Di Couldn’t,’