Inside Princess Diana’s love affair with her bodyguard
The mid-1980s were a tough time for Princess Diana, who was busy raising her two young sons William and Harry, while her husband Prince Charles had once again started his affair with Camilla Parker-Bowles.
According to Charles’s authorised biography, he began his affair with Camilla in 1986, five years after he married Diana.
Not knowing where to go or who to turn to, Diana crossed paths with a police officer at the Royal Protection Squad, Barry Mannakee, who was assigned as her bodyguard.
He was 10 years older than the princess and had a reputation for being “Jack the lad”, but his tall stature and well-built physique drew Diana in.
Mannakee became her confidante. Spending hours talking to each other as he accompanied Diana, William and Harry on long trips, including the royal country house Highgrove on weekends.
During that time, there were rumours circulating of a potentially flirtatious relationship between the two, with a story of Diana wearing a tight mini skirt and asking Mannakee, “Do I look all right?”, coming to light.
“Sensational, as you know you do,” he apparently replied. “I could quite fancy you myself.”
“But you already do, don’t you?” Diana allegedly asked back.
But despite it all, it has never been proven that they were lovers.
“He was a flamboyant character who overstepped the mark,” said former protection officer, Ken Wharfe, to ITV years later. “There was a lot of rumour, but one thing is certain: Had there been a sexual relationship, which Diana clearly said there was not, rest assured we would have known about it then, not now.”
In March 1986, those above Mannakee believed he was becoming “over familiar” with the princess, and they transferred him to diplomatic protection duties.
A little over a year later, Mannakee was sitting on a motorbike with his friend and fellow officer Steven Peat when a new driver, Nicola Chopp, turned her car in front of the bike. Mannakee was thrown off the back of the bike and through the window of Chopp’s vehicle. He died almost immediately after suffering from a broken spine.
It was Charles who revealed the tragic news to Diana, who allegedly was so overcome with emotion that she tore at her clothes on the way to the Cannes Film Festival.
It wasn’t until years later when Diana admitted her feelings for Mannakee. Sitting down with a voice coach, Peter Settelen in 1992 and 1993, the princess opened up about falling “deeply in love” with one of her royal protection officers.
It wasn’t hard to figure out that she was talking about Mannakee.
“He was the greatest fellow I have ever had,” she said on tape. “I was always waiting around trying to see him. I just wore my heart on my sleeve. I was only happy when he was around.
“I was quite happy to give it all up, just to go off and live with him. Can you believe it? And he kept saying he thought it was a good idea, too.”
She then went on to explain how the relationship ended.
“It was all found out and he was chucked out. And then he was killed. And that was the biggest blow of my life, I must say. And I think he was bumped off. But there we are. I don’t know – we’ll never know.”