Diana: ‘no evidence of murder or conspiracy’

London Evening Standard/London

Shock claims that the SAS murdered Princess Diana were yesterday furiously dismissed by former members of the regiment and her own former bodyguards.

The princess’s former personal protection officer, Ken Wharfe, said there was no evidence she was murdered and questioned why it had taken so long for the claims to be raised in public.

He said: “If this was 30 years ago the police desk sergeant would have thrown out this kind of nonsense before it went too far. In truth there have been two exhaustive inquiries and a thorough inquest into the death of Diana, Princess of Wales.

“There is absolutely no evidence of murder or a conspiracy.”

A former SAS soldier told the Standard: “This is a preposterous claim and highly insulting to the name of the regiment which exists to serve Queen and country. The provenance of this allegation is highly dubious.”

Colonel Tim Collins, a former SAS officer, said: “It’s utter nonsense.”

The claims emerged during the recent second trial of former SAS sniper Danny Nightingale, who was convicted of possessing an illegal firearm, in a letter written by the parents of the estranged wife of a former SAS member known as “Soldier N”, who was a key witness in the trial.

The letter was posted to the commanding officer of the SAS in 2011 and raised concerns about their son-in-law’s allegedly erratic and threatening behaviour.

 The former SAS sergeant is said to have boasted that the SAS had “arranged Princess Diana’s death” and that it had been “covered up”.

Dai Davies, a former head of the Met’s royal protection unit, said three inquiries had found Diana’s death was “an accident by any definition”.

Wharfe added: “I have always held a consistent view that the princess died in a tragic car crash that could have been avoided if the security officers on the night had done their jobs properly, if Henri Paul had not been drinking and driving and if the foreign photographers had not inflamed the situation by chasing the car.

“I hope no more public money will be spent on this matter. Enough is enough.”

Diana, her boyfriend Dodi Fayed and chauffeur Henri Paul died after their Mercedes crashed in a Paris tunnel after it left the Ritz Hotel in 1997.