Diana's Friends, Lovers and Bodyguards


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adelgal_36

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for years i have always wondered what has become of diana's flatmates. the flatmates: carolyn bartholomew(nee pride), ann hill(nee bolton) and virginia pittman. i am interested to know what has become of them . last i read about carolyn was according to 'friend' of diana's simmone simmons diana apparently had a fallout with carolyn. as for ann i do know she is still married to noel hill and still lives here in australia. prince harry stayed at their farm when he was in australia a couple of years ago. virginia pittman i have no idea what has become of her. does anyone know? be interested to know what they have done in regards to careers etc
 
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I'll try and research the others. I knew she was close to Ms. Bartholemew but Ms. Simmons says Diana became angry when she borrowed a dress than waited awhile to return it and when she did, it was in shabby condition. It was auctioned off by Christie's however (it was on page 116 in the catalogue), the Catherine Walker lliac dress with the mult-coloured jacket. IF it had been ruined, it certainly didn't look in bad shape in the photo where Diana models it. I don't know how much to believe about this "rift"; perhaps Diana was in a bad mood that day (parting with all her dresses and thinking about their history could lead to sadness and disappointment). As far as I know, Carolyn and Diana were very much on speaking terms when Diana died--which is more than Ms. Simmons can say.
 
Has anyone seen a photo or video of any of them at her funeral? I dont' recall any.
 
I'd read at the time Carolyn Bartholemew was definitely there but as for the others, I don't know. I don't know how true it is but several books have stated the "guest list" for her funeral was created from Diana's address/phone book.

Lady Jean said:
Has anyone seen a photo or video of any of them at her funeral? I dont' recall any.
 
Diana and Anne Beckwith-Smith

Does anyone have information on Anne Beckwith-Smith and what she has been doing since Diana's death? She is one who has never spoken yet was with Diana since the very beginning.
 
I believe Anne Beckwith-Smith works for a prestigious art gallery in London. I imagine she's getting close to retirement, though-she is ten years older than Diana.
 
I believe that Harry stayed with either Virginia or Ann during his time in Australia that is correct. It was these three ladies that appeared to have had the longest lasting friendships with Diana. Anne Beckwith-Smith was I am sure very much missed by Diana when she left as LIW.
 
If you look at some of the pictures from June 3, 1997 - Sotheby's I believe, Anne Beckwith-Smith is with Diana.
 
When Harry came to Australia he stayed at the property in Northern NSW (?) that belonged to Diana's former flatmate Ann Hill and her husband. Ann married the son of one of Charles's friends who owns large stations ( ranches) in Australia. He's Australian, so she lives in Australia and obviously there is some contract with Diana's children but probably more due to her husband's family connections with Charles.
 
Hello - I think this is a most interesting thread. Someone had mentioned that they did not know what had happened to Virginia Pitman. Well, I am pretty sure that she is married to Andrew Parker-Bowles, first husband of Camilla!

Weird, eh?
 
Lord of Cowley said:
Hello - I think this is a most interesting thread. Someone had mentioned that they did not know what had happened to Virginia Pitman. Well, I am pretty sure that she is married to Andrew Parker-Bowles, first husband of Camilla!

Weird, eh?


Ummm Andrew Parker Bowles's second wife's name is Rosemary! She was his long term mistress that he married after his divorce from Camilla.
 
Diana's friends, lovers and bodyguards

Hi there,

I wanted to start a new thread talking about the bodyguards of the princess and showing some photos. Which one did you like the most ? Which one would you have trust or fired ? Do you think that the resignation of Ken Wharfe in 1993 leaded directly to the death of Diana ?

:flowers:
 
Which one did you like the most ? Which one would you have trust or fired ?:flowers:
Do you want a factual thread or a "fan" thread? How many members would be in any position to have a basis for a like or dislike of any of Diana's bodyguards? You may as well ask "who do you think was the most cute?"

If you want to have a thread discussing Diana's relationships with her bodyguards, that's a valid area. But to ask members "which one did you like the most?" just reinforces the increasing trivialisation and reduction to the absurd of so many things to do with Diana. Next up we'll have someone suggesting "Diana - The Board Game".
 
If you want to have a thread discussing Diana's relationships with her bodyguards, that's a valid area. But to ask members "which one did you like the most?" just reinforces the increasing trivialisation and reduction to the absurd of so many things to do with Diana. Next up we'll have someone suggesting "Diana - The Board Game".

No lol, what I meant was "Who do you think fufilled his work of bodyguard perfectly?" so it concernes their relationship with Diana. Sorry for making an ambiguity :flowers:.
 
Well I can definately say who not and that would be Trevor Rees-Jones. He allowed those crazy antics to go on that fateful night!

If I were to pick a favorite I would say Barry Mannakee because I think that was her favorite and she trusted him the most. He was also there during the time when she probably needed someome to trust at the very beginning when she was feeling like a duck out of the water.

Lily
 
Sorry to disagree, but Dodi and his father were in control that night in Paris, not Trevor Rees-Jones. Rule number one: don't argue with the boss.
 
Sorry to disagree, but Dodi and his father were in control that night in Paris, not Trevor Rees-Jones. Rule number one: don't argue with the boss.

Yes, I agree with you AuroraB. Trevor Rees-Jones couldn't go against the will of his boss. Although some bodyguards, when they have the trust of their boss, dare to suggest what would be better for them. If Trevor did see the inhability of Henri Paul to drive, he would have probably told Diana not to get in the car. But when you look at the videos of the Ritz, Henri Paul didn't seem to be drunk. How could Trevor possibly prevent this car crash ?
 
Well I can definately say who not and that would be Trevor Rees-Jones. He allowed those crazy antics to go on that fateful night!
Trevor Rees-Jones was not Dianas bodyguard, he was Dodi's.
 
Trevor Rees-Jones was not Dianas bodyguard, he was Dodi's.

Oh yes, you're right SkyDragon. Sorry for making a mistake. Well, my point of vue doesn't change. He would have told Dodi if he had found something strange. I mean, the idea of being almost killed in a car crash and being disfigured doesn't attract me at all :ermm:.
 
I wondered about Trevor Rees-Jones but figured I was wrong. Even if he was Dodi's bodyguard in my opinion, boss or not, he should not have let them get in that car and allowed Henri Paul to drive like a madman. A professional bodyguard should not have allowed that!

Lily
 
Then TR-J better have a great resume ready because he would be looking for a new job. Find me one employee who would countermand Al-Fayed (father or son).
 
All bodyguards seem to walk a tightrope. If they tell their charge they wouldn't advise them to do such and such, the charge can and often does ignore them. They then have to go along with whatever inappropriate action their charge undertakes, or lose their job.
 
It depends on the position of the bodyguard.

Ken Wharfe, Diana's royal bodyguard, was an employee of Scotland Yard not of the Royal Family, so he could and did counteract his employer. He heavily criticizes Rees-Jones for not counteracting against al-Fayed but he doesn't realize that Rees-Jones was a private employee of the al-Fayeds and so had less leverage to go against his employers.

However, neither al-Fayed, Rees-Jones, or Henri Paul had ever had any experience of dealing with the kind of press madness that surrounded Diana. The only person in the car with that sort of experience and exposure to the types of security measures that would be effective was Diana herself.
 
Trevor Rees-Jones should have at least insisted they fasten their seat belts.
I'm not blaming him (I blame Fayed and Dodi for their poor decision making that night), and the crash may still have happened, but with a different outcome.
 
Trevor Rees-Jones should have at least insisted they fasten their seat belts.
I'm not blaming him (I blame Fayed and Dodi for their poor decision making that night), and the crash may still have happened, but with a different outcome.

Do we know that he didn't? Or maybe he did tell them to wear seatbelts and they ignored him. But I read in the coroner's report that he didn't have his seatbelt on either so I don't know.

Ken Wharfe heavily criticized his actions that night and indicated he would have done things differently. I wonder what they were and if he had been Diana's bodyguard for a long time, I wonder why she didn't speak up when some of the security measures weren't up to what she was used to? However, maybe she did speak up and was ignored.
 
That's true, ysbel, he may have asked them to put them on and they ignored him.

I guess we'll never know.
 
I don't think he did ask them to put seat belts on. His attention was probably on the paparazzi near the car. Ysbel is right, he wasn't wearing a seat belt then. Actually he was kind of ejected from his place, that's why his face was so damaged. Experiences were made to see if the seat belt could have saved their lives. Some scientists said her heart wouldn't have stand the choc and it would have been the same thing. Some think otherwise. I don't know what to think, I'm not a doctor. When she was found she didn't seem to have internal wounds, only external like on her forehead. Rees-Jones seem, in fact, more alarming than her. He was screaming and holding his head. If they'd knew her internal injuries were so important they wouldn't have waited too long. But how could they possibly knew...
 
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