Camilla Jessen
The former chauffeur of Princess Diana believes the late royal would still be alive today if he had been driving on the fateful night when she lost her life.
Nearly three decades after Princess Diana’s tragic death, her former chauffeur has spoken out for the first time, revealing a claim that could reignite long-standing questions about the fatal crash in Paris.
“I Would’ve Kept Her Safe”
Steve Davies, Princess Diana’s former chauffeur, believes her life could have been spared the night she died in a car crash in Paris in 1997, if only he had been behind the wheel.
“I’d have taken a bullet for Diana. My job was my life,” Davies told The Sun.
“All I know is that if life had taken a different trajectory — if I’d been driving her that night in Paris — she would still be here today… because I would’ve kept her safe.”
First Public Remark
This is the first time he has spoken publicly about the crash that took place 28 years ago.
The fatal accident claimed the lives of Diana, her companion Dodi Fayed, and their driver, Henri Paul.
This was reported by Newsner.
A Fatal Night in Paris
On the night of August 31, 1997, Diana was being driven through the Pont de l’Alma underpass in Paris, fleeing paparazzi.
Henri Paul, who was four times over the legal alcohol limit, lost control of the vehicle. He and Fayed were killed instantly.
Diana and bodyguard Trevor Rees-Jones were critically injured, Diana died a few hours later in hospital.
Davies believes her death could have been avoided. His absence that night, he claims, was not by choice — but the result of false allegations.
Betrayed by Bashir?
According to Davies, he was let go under mysterious circumstances he only came to understand years later while watching the Netflix series The Crown.
The series suggested that journalist Martin Bashir had fed Diana lies about her staff in an effort to gain her trust ahead of his infamous Panorama interview.
Bashir allegedly told Diana that Davies had leaked stories about her to the press, leading to his dismissal. The betrayal, Davies implies, ultimately robbed Diana of someone she trusted to keep her safe.
Others Share His View
Davies isn’t alone in believing that different choices could have saved Diana. Ken Wharfe, Diana’s former personal protection officer, echoed that view earlier this year.
“The one thing that would have saved Diana’s life that night would have been if they’d kicked out the chauffeur and for Rees-Jones to have driven,” Wharfe told The Sun.
But Fayed reportedly insisted on using Henri Paul as the driver — and Rees-Jones, despite being Diana’s bodyguard, didn’t have the authority to override that decision.
Security That Never Should Have Been Let Go?
Wharfe also criticized Diana’s decision to drop her official Scotland Yard security detail after her separation from Prince Charles. He claims he warned her just weeks earlier not to dismiss her team.
“She said, ‘If there’s one piece of advice you’d give me, what would it be?’” Wharfe recalled. “I urge you, I urge you, not to lose the Scotland Yard security…”
But Diana dismissed the entire unit four weeks later. Wharfe believes that had Queen Elizabeth insisted on keeping the security in place, Diana would have listened.
A Life That Might Have Been
Davies’s comments have reopened wounds and speculation that have never truly healed.
While countless theories about the crash have emerged over the years — some grounded in fact, others in conspiracy — his claim strikes at a painful possibility: that Diana’s death was not inevitable, but preventable.
