The new revelations were made by her former butler in ITV's new documentary.
In another shocking reveal, Princess Diana's former butler claimed that her fear of being spied on was so deep that she asked her aides to pull up floorboards and unscrew the ends of the telephones just to be sure.
According to The Mirror, in the second part of ITV's documentary, The Diana Interview: Revenge Of A Princess, Paul Burrel revealed that Diana truly believed that she was being watched and followed. However, she wasn't sure by whom. The documentary is regarding her infamous Panorama interview with Martin Bashir.
Andrew Morton, who authored Diana - Her True Story In Her Own Words, explained that she doubted a lot of people. "She certainly was very concerned about the Secret Services, about MI5, about MI6," he said and continued, "There were bizarre things going on inside households of the Prince and Princess of Wales. Her bodyguard - Ken Wharf - he felt that he was being followed."
He further explained, "Her confidant Richard Kay, the Daily Mail journalist - he was burgled several times and he took to employing a private detective. My own office was broken into. But there was a catalog of things." Burrell added, "The princess did suspect that she was being followed, that she was being watched."
Burrell continued by explaining how concerned Diana was about her privacy and security. He divulged, "She was under surveillance - whether it was phone hacking, spying... there were occasions where we pulled up the floorboards and unscrewed the end of the telephones to see if there were any listening devices." He noted, "The princess wasn't paranoid, but she was concerned."
Back in 2007, Reuters reported that Diana's former private secretary told an inquest investigating her death that the Princess also believed that her calls were being monitored. Michael Gibbins who worked for Diana for more than a year before her death in 1997, revealed that he had an idea about how the royal officials disapproved of her relationships.
Although the British and French police have concluded that their chauffeur, Henri Paul's drunk-driving was the cause of the demise of the Princess and her lover Dodi Fayed on that fateful night in Paris, Gibbins highlighted the fact that some of the things she had been doing like the anti-landmine campaign had given birth to some concerns among people, suggesting that could also have been one of the reasons for the death of the Princess and Dodi.
Dodi's father and Harrods owner Mohamed Al-Fayed claimed that the pair were killed by the British security services on Prince Philip's orders.
When Mohamed Al-Fayed's lawyer, Michael Mansfield, asked Gibbins if "the Princess, or for that matter anyone else, ever communicate[d] to you that one of her concerns was that her phone calls and other communications were being monitored?” he replied, “She never expressed that concern, but her actions were such, in terms of changing telephone numbers, that it was clear that that was a concern to her, yes." He continued, “I was never directly asked to report on her movements and certainly never did so."
It should be noted that Diana's sister revealed that the Princess feared that Mohamed Al-Fayed was spying on her when she and Dodi took a luxurious Mediterranean cruise, as reported by CBC in 2008.
In the inquest investigating Dian's death, Lady Sarah McCorquodale disclosed that her sister shared her concern over a phone call that their yacht was bugged by the senior Fayed. The inquest back then was centered around the doubt if someone was eavesdropping on Diana and her relationship with her in-laws and Prince Charles.
A British detective had revealed that a box containing letters of Prince Philip addressed to Diana had gone missing. Acting Det. Insp. Roger Milburn said they were not aware of where the box might be and it remained "an unanswered question." McCorquodale too said that she had no idea about the letters.
Even though years have gone by since the world lost its favorite Princess, the truth of whether she was ever being spied on is still behind a curtain of mystery.
References:
https://www.mirror.co.uk/tv/tv-news/princess-diana-pulled-up-floorboards-22989608
