Three fatal security lapses led to Princess Diana’s tragic death—at least, that’s what her former bodyguard, Ken Wharfe, believes.

It’s almost unimaginable that nearly three decades have passed since that fateful night. The world lost a global icon, a compassionate humanitarian, and, most heartbreakingly, two young boys lost their mother. It’s hard not to wonder how Diana would have shaped the world today—what causes she would champion, how she would look, and what role she would play in modern society.

Meeting Diana for the First Time

Ken Wharfe, who served as Diana’s bodyguard for six years, remembers her warmly. He admired her “wicked sense of humor” and considered it “an incredible privilege” to be part of her life.

From their very first encounter, Diana’s down-to-earth nature was evident.

“As I walked into the room, I was introduced, and Diana said, ‘I don’t envy you, Ken, looking after my kids. They can be a bloody nuisance,’” Wharfe recalled in an interview with The Sun.

Right on cue, a young Prince William, who had been attempting to play the piano, spun around and objected, “No, we’re not a bloody nuisance!”—just as Prince Harry tumbled off a table.

“Diana immediately got up and said, ‘Come here, both of you!’ before chasing them out of the room. I hadn’t even said a word yet,” Wharfe remembered.

She returned moments later, shaking her head.

“You see what I mean, Ken?” she said.

That moment changed everything for him.

“Suddenly, instead of talking to a royal, you were speaking to a parent, a young mother, someone you could truly relate to.”

That, he said, summed up Diana—full of warmth, laughter, and, at times, deep sadness.

A Dangerous Driver Behind the Wheel

As Diana’s personal protection officer from 1987 to 1993, Wharfe insists that she might still be alive today had different choices been made.

One of the most critical errors, he believes, was allowing Henri Paul to drive the car that night.

Diana and her boyfriend, Egyptian film producer Dodi Fayed, were being driven by Paul—security chief at the Ritz Hotel—while Dodi’s bodyguard, Trevor Rees-Jones, sat in the front passenger seat. Tragically, Rees-Jones was the sole survivor of the crash.