Diana's Friends, Lovers and Bodyguards - Page 35

Osipi · #**681** 02-04-2018, 07:07 AM

I think we only have to look at the long list of people that fell under Diana's "spell" to see that this was a woman that looked to other to provide what she felt she needed. There's quite a long list too and we see basically the same thing happening with each one of them before the relationship terminates.
Friends, lovers and bodyguards all fit into this mold.

I think the only relationships that never were affected by her manipulations were her public ones. The public adored her. They saw Diana with her "game face" on being sweet and caring and compassionate. She *was* a caring and compassionate woman and she did a lot of good with her works but that adoration also fed her self esteem and the more it grew, the more Diana felt she had the power to change things to be the way she wanted them to be. She used that power to reach the public and painted her own story of uncaring people in her life that made her miserable. Charles and the BRF got the brunt of it. A man was the "love of her life" until they didn't fall in line of how she perceived she wanted things to be.

I don't know that I'd call Diana a narcissistic person but I do think she was extraordinarily self centered.

XeniaCasaraghi · #**682** 02-04-2018, 02:15 PM

This is why I don't think Diana would have liked either Kate or Meghan. I see her like being the mother from Everybody Loves Raymond.

Osipi · #**683** 02-04-2018, 02:49 PM

That is something we will never know. And... its veering off topic.

Osipi · #**684** 02-05-2018, 04:36 AM

Perhaps her expectations going into a relationship were too high. Each new relationship promises that eternal love and adoration and doting on one's "darling" until the end of time. Reality tends to sink in and throw a monkey wrench into the works and that's when the work to maintain a relationship begins. I don't believe that Diana knew how to deal with monkey wrenches .

We see a pattern of behavior starting with her father. After her mother moved on, Diana was there to care take for him and she adored her father. We saw what happened when Raine came on the scene. Raine was a monkey wrench and the pattern of machinations against the interloper started.

With Mannakee, the monkey wrench was his being reassigned elsewhere.
With Hewitt, the monkey wrench was being deployed overseas
With Hoare, the monkey wrench was his wife.
With Khan, the monkey wrench was his career and dislike of limelight
With Charles, the monkey wrench was among all the other tools in the tool box that demanded Charles' time and attention.
With Dodi, we'll never know what the monkey wrench in that relationship would have been but I almost guarantee that eventually there would have been one.

James Gilbey may have been an exception. From all accounts, Gilbey was a long standing childhood friend of Diana's and a confidante. He's most known for the "Squidgygate" tapes.

Elan · #**685** 02-05-2018, 05:20 AM

I sometimes get the feeling Barry Mannakee -- was possibly Diana's best catch. With all that's been written on the others, a book would be welcome as relatively little is known about him.

He had an obvious good chemistry with her, and was very much of the solid gentleman type. Probably looked up to him somewhat as a father figure. To have someone 'snitching' on them for whatever intimacy they shared at the early stage, must have been sobering for her. Wake up one day, and he's not there, at all, anymore...and then the accident.

Fairly horrendous when you think about it.

**Zonk** · #**686** 02-22-2018, 01:27 PM

Discussion of Diana’s relationship with James Hewitt has been moved to the Diana and James Hewitt thread; further discussion should take place there. Further discussion of Diana’s relationship with Hasnat Khan should take place on the Hasnat Khan thread.

Speculation regarding Diana’s libido has been deleted as being off topic. This discussion is something that is unsubstantiated and cannot be verified.

Posts speculating on Diana’s state of mind as well as her mental health have been deleted as well.

Further off topic or unsubstantiated posts will be deleted without notice.

Denville · #**687** 03-17-2018, 06:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Elan

I sometimes get the feeling Barry Mannakee -- was possibly Diana's best catch. With all that's been written on the others, a book would be welcome as relatively little is known about him.

He had an obvious good chemistry with her, and was very much of the solid gentleman type. Probably looked up to him somewhat as a father figure. To have someone 'snitching' on them for whatever intimacy they shared at the early stage, must have been sobering for her. Wake up one day, and he's not there, at all, anymore...and then the accident.

Fairly horrendous when you think about it.

He was married.. and if Diana did flirt with him, in the relatively early stages of her marriage she was playing with fire. Not that I think he was murdered but it was obvious that an affair between them could go nowhere, and might not be tolerated by the RF.. so it was bound to end badly....

Elan · #**688** 03-17-2018, 04:56 PM

None of us really know how Barry felt about her..but it takes two to tango as they say.

Consider, the idea of being stuck in a fairytale marriage, yet one without a depth of feeling, unable to sense or experience that of a 'cherished' wife. So from the outset is the confusion of another woman attached to a husband and he likewise attached. Well before the marriage Diana became increasingly aware of Camilla akin to a veritable soulmate to Charles. Not able to resolve this is the reason she actually considered calling off the wedding a few days beforehand, while her sisters chimed in that it was all too late, that her initials were embroidered into Royal garments at that point.

Gawin · #**689** 03-17-2018, 05:16 PM

I agree. I think everyone has a good side and a bad side. The side that prevails is often determined by the circumstances in our lives. In Diana's case I think her "bad" behavior was driven by her desperate unhappiness and the sense that she had been cheated in life.

The marriage of Charles and Diana definitely brought out the worst in both of them.

Denville · #**690** 03-17-2018, 06:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Elan

None of us really know how Barry felt about her..but it takes two to tango as they say.

Consider, the idea of being stuck in a fairytale marriage, yet one without a depth of feeling, unable to sense or experience that of a 'cherished' wife. So from the outset is the confusion of another woman attached to a husband and he likewise attached. Well before the marriage Diana became increasingly aware of Camilla akin to a veritable soulmate to Charles. Not able to resolve this is the reason she actually considered calling off the wedding a few days beforehand, while her sisters chimed in that it was all too late, that her initials were embroidered into Royal garments at that point.

He was still a married man and in the employment of the RF. having an affair with him was not as likely to be tolerated as an affair with someone more her social equal...

Elan · #**691** 03-18-2018, 12:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Denville

He was still a married man and in the employment of the RF. having an affair with him was not as likely to be tolerated as an affair with someone more her social equal...

There may be subtleties which distinguish the ways James Hewitt or James Gilbey would be considered socially superior to Barry. For ex., Hewitt by virtue of horsemanship and polo player endeared himself to Charles. Oliver Hoare as an art dealer had panache. And thus, Barry Mannakee ranked beneath all of them in social standing, hmmm.

Osipi · #**692** 03-18-2018, 12:41 AM

I think what truly made the difference for Diana, at the time Mannakee was working as her RPO, is that he was actually *there*. It doesn't really matter what Barry's sentiments towards Diana were at the time. What mattered was how important Barry was to Diana and what Diana saw in him.

She was facing the hard, cold reality that her fairy tale marriage was not as she expected it to be with Charles gone a lot of the time without her, still pursuing his own interests that Diana had no liking for and frankly, Charles did not have the time to play the ever attentive husband to his wife.

Mannakee was on the job and that meant wherever Diana went, Barry went too. They communicated. They spent time together and formed a bond. What exactly that bond is we'll never know but for the sake of erring on the side of caution, its very possible Mannakee saw the relationship as protector/charge and Diana saw it as a new best friend and found in him the attention she desperately wanted from Charles.

Sometimes, I believe that absence makes the heart go wander and this could be precisely what happened with Mannakee. He was there day in and day out and Charles wasn't. Its not hard to believe that an attachment would be formed with someone that's always around even though it was his job and his duty to be there.

Denville · #**693** 03-18-2018, 06:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Elan

There may be subtleties which distinguish the ways James Hewitt or James Gilbey would be considered socially superior to Barry. For ex., Hewitt by virtue of horsemanship and polo player endeared himself to Charles. Oliver Hoare as an art dealer had panache. And thus, Barry Mannakee ranked beneath all of them in social standing, hmmm.

simply he was a policeman. Hoare was a very rich art dealer.. James Hewitt was not rich but was an army officer...

Denville · #**694** 03-18-2018, 06:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Osipi

I think what truly made the difference for Diana, at the time Mannakee was working as her RPO, is that he was actually *there*. It doesn't really matter what Barry's sentiments towards Diana were at the time. What mattered was how important Barry was to Diana and what Diana saw in him.

She was facing the hard, cold reality that her fairy tale marriage was not as she expected it to be with Charles gone a lot of the time without her, still pursuing his own interests that Diana had no liking for and frankly, Charles did not have the time to play the ever attentive husband to his wife.

Mannakee was on the job and that meant wherever Diana went, Barry went too. They communicated. They spent time together and formed a bond. What exactly that bond is we'll never know but for the sake of erring on the side of caution, its very possible Mannakee saw the relationship as protector/charge and Diana saw it as a new best friend and found in him the attention she desperately wanted from Charles.

Sometimes, I believe that absence makes the heart go wander and this could be precisely what happened with Mannakee. He was there day in and day out and Charles wasn't. Its not hard to believe that an attachment would be formed with someone that's always around even though it was his job and his duty to be there.

I'm not sure what you are saying.. It is a big "no no", for a Protection officer to get emotionaly or sexually involved with the person they are protecting. Barry was married.. and it seems likely that from what I've read, Diana DID indeed turn to him because he was there, he was a nice easy going man and not someone she had to struggle to understand, like Charles.. and he was flattered when she grew fond of him and it turned his head. So whether it was actively sexual or not, there was something and it was mutual..

Osipi · #**695** 03-18-2018, 06:59 AM

I'm just more inclined to believe that it was Diana that put more meaning into the relationship than Mannakee did. Kind of a transference thing where a student "falls in love" with her attentive professor or a patient believing there's a love connection with the doctor.

Out of all of the men that she supposedly "loved", Mannakee was the one that was paid to be on the job and constantly in her company. To my knowledge, there was never any assignations between the two of them when he was off duty. If so, please fill me in.

Denville · #**696** 03-18-2018, 07:06 AM

think this has come up before. Obviuosly if Barry M was transferred, possibly by Charles' request, he was harldy likely to try and pursue an affair....He probably was very nervous that he and Diana had transgressed boundaries and knew that he was lucky to keep his job.... and he could harldy keep Diana in style..

Osipi · #**697** 03-18-2018, 07:33 AM

Actually, I think if he had really crossed the line in any way while "on the job", he wouldn't have been transferred but rather, fired. As the old saying goes "love is blind but the neighbors ain't", someone could have put a bee in Charles' gardening bonnet that Diana, herself, was starting to become a little too familiar with her protection officer and they decided to nip it in the bud. For all we know, Mannakee could have privately asked for a transfer himself as he felt the situation was becoming a little too "familiar" and quietly took action without it becoming known. Not every male on the planet was ready to fall at Diana's feet.

What stands out for me in all this is that even with the rumors abounding and the transfer, the Mannakee marriage stayed intact up until the time of his death.

I'm perhaps just more inclined to think that this relationship was more of an embellished figment of Diana's imagination than an actual "affair".

Denville · #**698** 03-18-2018, 09:38 AM

I doubt if they woud have fired him, it might look suspicious.. even if he and Diana had been lovers. THe odds were that whether it was just a heavy flirtation or an affair, Charles or his superiors got him transferred and he knew he had gotten his fingers burnt.. and so did Diana.
I think both of them esp Di were a bit scared after the relationship. ANd the evidence seems to be that some of the staff felt that Barry had had his head turned by Diana's being friendly with him. She was a beautiful woman, he was a man spending a lot of time in hr company. She was probably confiding in him about her marriage and how unhappy she was, and he felt sorry for her as well as attracted and flattered that the future queen was making him a confidante..
I think its quite likely that he would be flattered by her affection and willing to reciprorcate..but knew it was dangerous to do so.
As for his marriage, not everyone rushes to divorce over an affair. The Hoares are still together, though OH has certainly had more than 1 high profile affaire...

Mermaid1962 · #**699** 03-19-2018, 04:29 PM

That's an intriguing theory re Mannakee, Osipi. Diana was known in later years to harass objects of her affection. Perhaps he knew where things were headed if he didn't leave. Could have been flattered with her attention at first but then realized that she was depending on him too much. Could be he asked for a transfer but told her that he was transferred. It would have been very hard to have a professional, objective, attitude toward his "subject" if he were developing feelings for her. Perhaps a lot of it, as you say, was in Diana's head.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Osipi

For all we know, Mannakee could have privately asked for a transfer himself as he felt the situation was becoming a little too "familiar" and quietly took action without it becoming known. Not every male on the planet was ready to fall at Diana's feet.... I'm perhaps just more inclined to think that this relationship was more of an embellished figment of Diana's imagination than an actual "affair".

Denville · #**700** 03-29-2018, 04:57 AM

That's not what the evidence seems to me to say. It seems that Barry M's head was turned by the flirtation with Diana, and I can believe there was an affair.. or something physical.. that might have soon become an affair. And that the Police and Chalres would have gotten hm transferred quietly whatever happened... Ther is no evidence that Manakee asked for a transfer.. It seems more probably to me that he was removed quietly.