A glance backstage. Former bodyguard Lee Sansum shared tales about his time working for Princess Diana in his new e-book, Defending Diana: A Bodyguard’s Story.
“My time with the princess, it was solely a brief interval in my life, however it had a much bigger affect on my life without end,” Sansum solely instructed Us Weekly forward of the Tuesday, August 30, launch. ”I feel due to the twenty fifth anniversary of her dying arising quickly, persons are simply within the princess everywhere in the world.”
Diana died in 1997 at age 36 in a tragic automotive accident. The bodyguard, for his half, will “always remember” assembly Diana for the primary time when he was employed to work considered one of her holidays following her cut up from Prince Charles.
“Earlier than I went out to St. Tropez, I already knew the princess was coming. No person else did, however the safety workforce,” he instructed Us. “She was a tremendous woman and what actually caught my consideration is she was only a regular down-to-earth woman and it wasn’t what I anticipated. I don’t know what I anticipated. She cherished her boys. You may inform she cared for individuals, all of the employees, everyone she met. She smiled; she handled them kindly. She was humorous. We had some nice conversations, and he or she was a traditional particular person.”
Sansum instructed Us that he’s “skilled to see nonverbal communications in individuals” and is “fairly good at choosing up if anyone’s hiding one thing or there’s an agenda,” however Diana was “simply a tremendous, beautiful woman.”
He continued: “She was a caring mom. She cherished her boys. She cherished watching them play. She cherished taking part in with them. She cherished watching Harry [be a] little bit of a naughty boy. I feel we name them naughty boys, [but] I name ’em a free baby and I feel she was a free baby too.”
Prince William was 15 when his mom died, whereas Prince Harry was solely 12.
“She used to, you recognize, [take] enjoyment of watching him rise up to his little antics and spraying the paparazzi together with his jet ski, which I taught him to do,” Sansum mentioned. “It was clear that she cherished her boys.”
In response to the creator, Diana deliberate to relocate to America previous to her dying to get away from the U.Ok. media.
“She was fairly adamant that in America, the press appreciated her. The individuals appreciated her, and he or she appreciated the place,” he instructed Us. “I do know lots of people have mentioned she was depressed. She was anxious. She was paranoid. Properly, you recognize what? I sort of get why. She couldn’t get pleasure from her life. Issues weren’t regular. She had nobody to show to.”
Sansum famous that Diana didn’t communicate with him about her relationship with Prince Charles.
“[Once] there was one image within the newspaper in one of many British tabloids on the time that confirmed an image of the princess — a beautiful image. After which they’d considered one of Camilla, which wasn’t a really good image. And I feel the headline was, ‘He selected this for that,’” he recalled to Us. “It was a really crude remark and we noticed that newspaper that morning and when the princess got here down for a chat within the morning on the seashore, which she used to do, you recognize, I did point out to her, ‘Have you ever seen the headlines?’ as a result of I knew it might stir the paparazzi up. That was the one purpose I made the remark and the princess mentioned, ‘Properly, it’s his selection. I moved on.’ Didn’t even remark any additional in it. And I believed, you recognize, what a superb remark.”
Defending Diana is on the market now. Scroll by for extra from the e-book:
