How Members Of The Royal Family Really Felt About Princess Diana And Dodi Fayed's Relationship
The short-lived and tragic romance of Princess Diana and Dodi Fayed was a subject on which seemingly everyone had an opinion in the late 1990s. To the rest of the world, the princess' new relationship was a bit of salacious monarchy gossip. But to those closest to Diana, it was a far more personal shake-up to the royals' famed family tree.
In usual royal fashion, no public statements were made regarding the late princess' relationship. Comments were left mainly to anonymous inside sources and speculative media. However, Diana's butler, Paul Burrell, offered a closer look at the royal family's opinions of Fayed during his testimony at an inquest into Diana and Fayed's tragic deaths.
Burrell revealed to the court that Queen Elizabeth II thought Diana was "rather over-excited" about her relationship with Fayed. "Her Majesty was concerned about the future," Burrell said before vehemently denying the royal family's involvement in the fatal car crash that would take the lives of Diana, Fayed, and driver Henri Paul, per Reuters.
Princess Diana's sons had mixed feelings about their mom's new beau
Princess Diana's young sons, Princes William and Harry, first met Dodi Fayed after he invited Diana and her children on a San Tropez holiday in August 1997. Harry wrote about the vacation in his memoir "Spare," recalling that the trio stayed at Fayed's villa before describing Fayed as having "raven hair, a leathery tan, and a bone-white smile." The younger of Princess Diana's two sons recounted Fayed's attempts to win over the young brothers — and their mom.
"He chatted us up, chatted Mummy up. Specifically Mummy. Pointedly Mummy. His eyes plumping into red hearts. He was cheeky, no doubt. But, again, nice enough. He gave Mummy a present. Diamond bracelet. She seemed to like it. She wore it a lot. Then, he faded from my consciousness. As long as Mummy's happy, I told Willy, who said he felt the same, " he shared.
Harry and William were 12 and 15, respectively, when they went on holiday with their mother and her new beau. Harry said in his memoir that people referred to Fayed as Diana's "friend" when talking to the boys. "Not boyfriend, not lover. Friend. Nice enough bloke, I thought," Harry wrote. William has never publicly shared his opinions about Fayed.
Dodi Fayed's father accused Princes Philip and Charles for his son's death
The 2008 inquest into Princess Diana and Dodi Fayed's tragic deaths brought forth even more alleged opinions and conspiracies from the royal family. The lawyer of Mohamed al-Fayed, Dodi Fayed's father, asked Queen Elizabeth II's butler, Paul Burrell, if the allegations that Prince Philip had called Dodi an "oily bed hopper" were true. "He has made a few mistakes of the past," Burrell said of the queen's husband. "I cannot possibly think he would say that."
Reuters also reported that an emotional al-Fayed accused Prince Philip and his son, Prince Charles, of conspiring in the deaths of the late princess and al-Fayed's son in order to be free of Diana for good so he could officially marry Camilla Parker Bowles. "They cleared the decks. They finished her. They murdered her. He married his crocodile wife, and he is happy with that," al-Fayed allegedly said.
Al-Fayed claimed his son and Diana had revealed they were expecting a baby and planned to announce their engagement just before their deaths. Despite the grieving father's emotional claims, the inquest's jury placed no blame on the princes. Per The Guardian, the jury determined that the fatal car crash was the fault of the chauffeur, Henri Paul, and the paparazzi photographers who chased the car carrying Diana and Fayed.