After decades of silence, Princess Dianaās ex-chauffeur has made the bold claim that she would still be alive today if heād been the one driving on the night she died.
The former Princess of Wales passed away at the age of 36 on August 31, 1997, due to a fatal car crash in Paris.
Now, Steve Davies has opened up about BBC reporter Martin Bashirās role in what happened.
Highlights
- Princess Diana’s ex-chauffeur claims she would be alive if he’d driven her that night.Chauffeur Steve Davies accuses BBC’s Martin Bashir of spreading falsehoods about him.Davies served as Princess Diana’s driver before being dismissed without explanation.
Princess Dianaās former chauffeur says she wouldnāt have died on that fateful night if heād been the one behind the wheel
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Davies had been a royal chauffeur for eight years and had served as Princess Dianaās personal driver for half of that time. So, he was quite surprised when he was asked to leave his position in March 1996, without explanation.
But after years of wondering where he went wrong, Netflixās The Crown finally allowed him to put the pieces together.
In a meeting in September 1995, Bashir allegedly lied to both Diana and her brother, Earl Spencer, in an attempt to win the princessās trust and make her feel insecure, claiming that Davies had leaked information about her to the press.
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āI was forced out of a job I wanted to be my lifeās work,ā Davies told The Mail on Sunday. āRoyal service is about being trusted and loyal, showing discretion, having a sense of duty. Your reputation, your good name is everything.
āMartin Bashir robbed me of mine by making those allegations to Diana.ā
He added, āIām not the kind of man who wastes time and energy being bitter or angry, but she died believing I had betrayed her and thatās something I canāt ever forget or forgive.ā
The former driver claimed he would have ātaken a bulletā for the princess, and that he was āalways there for herā
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āAll I know is that if life had taken a different trajectory, if Iād been driving her that night in Paris, she would still be here today⦠because I wouldāve kept her safe,ā he said.
In May of this year, Davies received compensation for Bashirās false allegations, but he still wasnāt satisfied.
āIn essence, he told her I was a traitor, when all along the treachery was his,ā he said.
Although itās been almost three decades since the princessās passing, conversations regarding the details of her death continue
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LadBible reported that Diana had been traveling in a car with her boyfriend, Dodi Fayed, in the early hours of the morning on the day of her death. They were then chased by nine journalists through the Pont de lāAlma underpass when Henri Paul, the driver, lost control of the vehicle and crashed into a column.
He was killed instantly, along with Fayed. Diana and Fayedās bodyguard, Trevor Rees-Jones, were critically injured.
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Immediately, firefighters arrived at the scene to transport the two to emergency services. It was then that a firefighter heard Dianaās last words, āOh my God, whatās happened?ā
The former British princess sadly died at 4am in the hospital that day.