Anti-mine campaigner Paul Heslop accompanied Di on the iconic trip, just months before she died in a Paris car crash
THE Brit who accompanied Princess Diana during her iconic trip to the Angolan minefields admits his only fear was getting her killed.
Charity worker Paul Heslop acted as Di’s guide during her visit to the war-scarred African nation 20 years ago.
Thousands of deadly landmines still littered the landscape following 20 years of civil war, with thousands of Angolans killed and maimed by the hidden explosives.
And Heslop admits his terror at the thought of taking a wrong step in one of the minefields with the Princess in tow.
The Sandhurst graduate recalls: “I did not want to be the person known for blowing up the most famous person in the world!”
Photos of Di’s visit to Angola – two decades ago to this day – became some of the most iconic images of the 90s.
Tragically, only seven months later she would be dead following a car crash in Paris.
But just like her work with AIDS sufferers, the legacy of her visit to south-west Africa helped raise much-needed awareness.
Wearing a safety visor and body armour, the Princess walked through a deadly minefield and later met with children maimed after stepping on hidden devices.
But while she portrayed her usual professional calm, Heslop says Di was at first nervous.
Only a week earlier an NGO employee’s legs were blown off when their car hit a mine.
Heslop, who was working for , added: “I told her not to touch anything shiny, which made her a little bit nervous.
“But as the day went on, she became more animated and engaged. She warmed up throughout the day.
“She was coming to a dangerous area. There were 30 casualties a month in that town alone. But she really took the cause to heart.
“The impact of the pictures was tremendous and became one of the iconic images of the 20th Century.
“Even moreso than pictures where she wore her diamonds and ball gowns.”
Now Chief of Programmes for the , a disbelieving Heslop only found out he was to host Diana after his mum saw it on the BBC News.
Yet even when the royal did arrive, she did not create the stir she did elsewhere.
“There was bemusement in the town at the number of journalists – around 90 – who came to report on the trip,” Heslop continues.
“It was the most white people residents of Kuimbo had ever seen.
“There was bemusement that the most famous woman on the planet went to the only town where she was completely unknown.
“The town had no internet and one satellite TV. Angola just hadn’t been exposed.”
During the trip International Red Cross-organised trip Diana called for a ban on landmines.
Incredibly, the words were met with derision by Tory politicians with the Junior Defence Minister Earl Howe calling her a "loose cannon".
But her intervention proved key to the signing of landmark anti-mine agreement the Ottawa Treaty, ratified just months after her death.
Prince Harry followed in his mother's footsteps when he worked with the Halo organisation in Mozambique seven years ago.
works in dozens of countries around the world to help clear landmines.
