Diana--A Closely Guarded Secret by Ken Wharfe Read Free Book Online

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    With that vote of confidence I turned and left, making my way through the palace complex and back across Kensington Gardens before catching a taxi back to the department’s headquarters close to Buckingham Palace. The meeting had gone well, I felt, and I was delighted. A few days later I was formally confirmed as Personal Protection Officer to Her Royal Highness the Princess of Wales.
     
    If you are not born to it like ‘blood’ royals, having a bodyguard around you twenty-four hours a day can be tough to take. I suppose my being there must have been an ever-present reminder to Diana that she was different; that she had become a potential target for faceless terrorists or deranged stalkers, or any one of the thousands of cranks out there (and any policeman can tell you just how many there are). Before I joined, she had already attended an anti-terrorist course atStirling Lines, then the headquarters of the Special Air Service Regiment at Hereford; we would return there periodically for refresher courses, which included her taking a driving course on how to handle possible terrorist attacks, during which she drove through smoke bombs tossed in front of her car. I also took her to the police range at Lippitts Hill in Loughton, Essex, where officers licensed to carry firearms, myself included, have to complete regular proficiency tests on the range to ensure we qualify for the job. If a personal protection officer failed to meet the necessary standard he or she would be immediately switched to other duties. On one occasion she brought William and Harry with her, who revelled in firing a .38 Smith & Wesson revolver, under the close supervision of a police instructor.
    For all her mood swings, her unpredictability and occasional outbursts of frustration or rage – and I have to emphasise that this was an exceptionally difficult time for her both in terms of her marriage and her place within the royal family – the Princess recognised that we had to be with her, and while at times she must have found our presence claustrophobic, we knew that she appreciated our diligence. Although she had joked about me being her last line of defence, she knew that it was in fact true. We both recognised that if I was to keep her safe, then there could be no secrets between us.
     
    For members of the British royal family, life can never be completely private. Rank and title bring with them great privilege, wealth and prestige, but rank and title also mean that their secrets are never truly their own. There have always been – and always will be – over-attentive servants eavesdropping onconversations, or maids who survey personal correspondence too closely while tidying a desk, or even housekeepers paying rather too much attention to clothes or bed linen. That is not to say that such people are not honourable or discreet, but they still know . Then there are people who have to know, in order that the whole business of royalty can be run smoothly and without scandals, as well as others, often senior courtiers, who make it their business to know. So for royalty, even the most cherished private moment must, by the very nature of the job, be shared, or at the least be on somebody else’s ‘need-to-know’ list.
    In addition, the more senior the royal, the greater the need for their every movement and action to be – discreetly – known, since otherwise it becomes almost impossible to protect them. Being both the wife of the Prince of Wales and a very high-profile figure in her own right, Diana was no exception and, as her protection officer, I was perhaps the one person with whom she needed to share those secrets without constraint. If she was planning to visit the theatre with friends, or to dine privately with a male admirer, it was imperative that I should know in advance who these people were, and where she intended meeting them, in order to protect her effectively.
    Within days of joining the Metropolitan Police Royalty