The 30th anniversary of Princess Diana’s death could bring to a head the bitter feud between royals Prince Harry and Prince William, according to British royal family expert Tom Sykes.
Sykes told the Daily Beast host Joanna Coles that he has it on good authority that the brothers could be planning “dueling documentaries” in 2027 to commemorate their mother’s life, and that these could shed light on their different views over the lead-up to her death.
According to Sykes’ sources, William is “not remotely amused” over reports that brother Harry and wife Meghan Markle are developing a project for Netflix as part of their “first-look” deal with the streamer through their Archewell Productions.
Sykes added that the upcoming doc could explain why Netflix is still in business with Harry and Meghan when the programming to come out of their partnership has so far been widely ripped as “disastrous” and “boring.”
“We could have dueling Diana documentaries from the two boys,” Sykes said.
News of a rehashing of Diana’s life and 1997 death at 36 comes on the heels of Sykes’ explosive essay in which he lays out the reasons for why he now believes that the beloved “People’s Princess” could have been murdered.
“Lots of people in the UK certainly will remember where they were, and I’m not calling for the inquest to be reopened or anything like that. I don’t think there’s anything to be gained, but I think it’s a really, really, really interesting story,” Sykes said. “And I think the holes in the story are just so fascinating because they’re just, it’s all just hidden in plain sight.”
Diana was killed in a Paris car crash on Aug. 31, 1997, when her driver, Henri Paul, lost control of the Mercedes he was driving as the vehicle entered the Pont de l’Alma underpass. They collided with another car, then hit a concrete column. Paul and Diana’s companion Dodi Fayed died, but Fayed’s bodyguard, Trevor Rees-Jones, survived; Rees-Jones was the only one wearing a seatbelt. The princess was later pronounced dead at a local hospital.
An official inquiry chalked the crash up to Paul’s alcohol intoxication—which was over the legal limit, the BBC reported at the time—and high speed, with reports that the car was attempting to escape pursuing paparazzi.
However, Sykes outlined why he has lately been troubled by more questions about the circumstances of Diana’s death.
“I think these days of what our governments might be up to and those kinds of things, so much stuff has come to light of the kind of covert actions and that kind of stuff,” Sykes told the Daily Beast.
He added, “I do always say to people, ‘I could be wrong.’”
Sykes recalled what one of Diana’s best friends, Rosa Monckton, said. “She said, ‘Diana was such an extraordinary person that people cannot accept that she died in an ordinary way, but she did,’” added Sykes. “And for many, many years, I really bought that line. But I just feel like the more you look at it we’re all a bit more skeptical.”
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