lashinka2002
Serene Highness
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Here's another old article from extra tv
Thursday September 3rd, 1998
Al-Fayed Bodyguard Speaks Out!
The world has come to believe that Princess Diana and Dodi Fayed were soulmates, headed for marriage and a life of happiness. But now, a former bodyguard of the Fayed family says that impression is wrong.
The world has seen the images of Diana and Dodi hours before the tragic crash, as they left for France after a vacation in Italy. The couple arriving at Paris's Le Bourget airport, Dodi consulting with security aide Henri Paul, and Diana ..radiant...smiling as she got into the waiting car, headed to the Windsor, Villa...which belonged to Dodi's father, Mohammed Al-Fayed.
Now, EXTRA has uncovered a stunning development. The Princess' car ride was sheer chaos, and her happy thoughts had turned into terror. "She was crying..." Ben Murrell is a former security guard for the Al-Fayed's, who was assigned to the Windsor villa.
In his first television interview, he reveals exclusively to EXTRA the inside story of a frenzied atmosphere during their first journey through the streets of Paris that day. "The chauffeur of the day relayed to me that Diana had been very upset with the speed of the car from the Le Bourget, and at times had been shouting out to slow down, and that Dodi had been actually trying to speed up to try and get away from the photographers and to get to the villa as fast as possible."
Was it his feeling that Diana was upset by all of this? "Yes, it was. I mean, it was his first drive with the Princess and it was upsetting for him to hear her screaming in the back of the car." And was Diana upset when she arrived at the villa? "She was quite flustered and quite upset."
And that's not all. Murrell also says he was the only other person present as Dodi and Diana toured the palatial quarters, and he insists that they didn't act like a couple in love. "It was quite stilted...they seemed more of two acquaintances, perhaps out on a Saturday looking at a museum." So there was no handholding? "No. Certainly not."
The reason Murrell's claim is so startling -- and significant -- is that after Dodi and Diana died, the international media made a huge deal about that visit. Several of Al-Fayed's employees insisted Diana and Dodi had spent nearly three hours at the former home of the duke and duchess of Windsor, checking it out from top to bottom, even looking in the refrigerator and at the boiler. The clear implication being that the two were planning to get married, and were considering the estate as their future home.
It was all a big lie, says Murrell. A lie orchestrated by his boss, Mohammed Al-Fayed. "She was trying to make an effort to have some interest, but it was an empty villa so they spent less than half an hour there looking at some pictures on the walls and she just seemed that she wanted to get away."
The British tabloid "The Sun" published stills taken from a security camera mounted outside the Windsor home. The first showing them arriving...and the last showing them leaving a mere twenty-eight minutes later! And what did Diana say as she left? "She said thank you for your help. It was quite a brief exit."
Murrell, a former marine, tells EXTRA he finally decided to resign and come forward because he was sick of all the lies Al-Fayed has perpetuated. Including the claim that the couple was killed in a conspiracy. He also discloses some frightening new information about Henri Paul, the drunk driver responsible for his own -- as well as Dodi and Diana's -- deaths.
Henri Paul showed up at the mansion just a few minutes after the couple. "He stopped the Range Rover abruptly, wound the window down and almost leaned out halfway through the window...grabbed my shoulder and shook me. He was quite excitable... in that close proximity I could smell alcohol and a mixture of foot in his breath, somebody that had a good sort of lunch with some drink." At the time Murrell says he didn't think much of it, but the incident took on great significance after the crash. As news of the terrible tragedy leaked out, Al-Fayed's campaign immediately went into full gear -- especially after it became apparent that bodyguard Trevor Rees-Jones would survive. Murrell says he was ordered by his employer to rush to his good friend's bedside. "My job then was basically to keep Trevor from talking to the police and anybody involved in the investigation before Mohammed had a chance to speak with him."
Thursday September 3rd, 1998
Al-Fayed Bodyguard Speaks Out!
The world has come to believe that Princess Diana and Dodi Fayed were soulmates, headed for marriage and a life of happiness. But now, a former bodyguard of the Fayed family says that impression is wrong.
The world has seen the images of Diana and Dodi hours before the tragic crash, as they left for France after a vacation in Italy. The couple arriving at Paris's Le Bourget airport, Dodi consulting with security aide Henri Paul, and Diana ..radiant...smiling as she got into the waiting car, headed to the Windsor, Villa...which belonged to Dodi's father, Mohammed Al-Fayed.
Now, EXTRA has uncovered a stunning development. The Princess' car ride was sheer chaos, and her happy thoughts had turned into terror. "She was crying..." Ben Murrell is a former security guard for the Al-Fayed's, who was assigned to the Windsor villa.
In his first television interview, he reveals exclusively to EXTRA the inside story of a frenzied atmosphere during their first journey through the streets of Paris that day. "The chauffeur of the day relayed to me that Diana had been very upset with the speed of the car from the Le Bourget, and at times had been shouting out to slow down, and that Dodi had been actually trying to speed up to try and get away from the photographers and to get to the villa as fast as possible."
Was it his feeling that Diana was upset by all of this? "Yes, it was. I mean, it was his first drive with the Princess and it was upsetting for him to hear her screaming in the back of the car." And was Diana upset when she arrived at the villa? "She was quite flustered and quite upset."
And that's not all. Murrell also says he was the only other person present as Dodi and Diana toured the palatial quarters, and he insists that they didn't act like a couple in love. "It was quite stilted...they seemed more of two acquaintances, perhaps out on a Saturday looking at a museum." So there was no handholding? "No. Certainly not."
The reason Murrell's claim is so startling -- and significant -- is that after Dodi and Diana died, the international media made a huge deal about that visit. Several of Al-Fayed's employees insisted Diana and Dodi had spent nearly three hours at the former home of the duke and duchess of Windsor, checking it out from top to bottom, even looking in the refrigerator and at the boiler. The clear implication being that the two were planning to get married, and were considering the estate as their future home.
It was all a big lie, says Murrell. A lie orchestrated by his boss, Mohammed Al-Fayed. "She was trying to make an effort to have some interest, but it was an empty villa so they spent less than half an hour there looking at some pictures on the walls and she just seemed that she wanted to get away."
The British tabloid "The Sun" published stills taken from a security camera mounted outside the Windsor home. The first showing them arriving...and the last showing them leaving a mere twenty-eight minutes later! And what did Diana say as she left? "She said thank you for your help. It was quite a brief exit."
Murrell, a former marine, tells EXTRA he finally decided to resign and come forward because he was sick of all the lies Al-Fayed has perpetuated. Including the claim that the couple was killed in a conspiracy. He also discloses some frightening new information about Henri Paul, the drunk driver responsible for his own -- as well as Dodi and Diana's -- deaths.
Henri Paul showed up at the mansion just a few minutes after the couple. "He stopped the Range Rover abruptly, wound the window down and almost leaned out halfway through the window...grabbed my shoulder and shook me. He was quite excitable... in that close proximity I could smell alcohol and a mixture of foot in his breath, somebody that had a good sort of lunch with some drink." At the time Murrell says he didn't think much of it, but the incident took on great significance after the crash. As news of the terrible tragedy leaked out, Al-Fayed's campaign immediately went into full gear -- especially after it became apparent that bodyguard Trevor Rees-Jones would survive. Murrell says he was ordered by his employer to rush to his good friend's bedside. "My job then was basically to keep Trevor from talking to the police and anybody involved in the investigation before Mohammed had a chance to speak with him."