Who is Barry Mannakee? Princess Diana’s bodyguard who died in a motorbike accident
Conspiracy theorists have been convinced for 30 years someone else was involved in the Royal Protection Officer's death
THIRTY years ago, a Royal Protection officer and former bodyguard to the Princess of Wales was killed in a horror road smash on a nondescript stretch of the A11 in Essex.
In the years that followed, Barry Mannakee's death sparked a string of conspiracy theories after Diana made the bombshell revelation she believed he had been "bumped off".
The tape was recorded by Diana's voice coach, Peter Settelen, in 1992 and the extraordinary claims have now been thrust back into the limelight after the controversial decision was made to show them for the first time.
Here's all you need to know...
Who was Barry Mannakee?
Mannakee was born on June 1, 1947, in London and was a police officer with the Royal Protection Squad before being assigned to Princess Diana as a bodyguard in 1985.
He was moved in 1986 from his royal duties at Kensington Palace to the Diplomatic Protection Group in central London.
Diana always claimed he was "chucked out" after allegations emerged that the pair were having an affair.
Mannakee was actually married to a woman named Susan - a self-employed reflexologist with whom he had two children.
How did Barry Mannakee die?
Shortly after 10pm on May 15, 1987, Mannakee was returning home to Loughton in Essex on the back of a Suzuki 400cc motorcycle being driven by friend and fellow officer PC Steven Peat.
As the pair hurtled down the rain-soaked A11 from central London, 17-year-old Nicola Chopp left her home in South Woodford in a Ford Fiesta to meet a pal at a nearby pub.
The beauty therapist, who had only passed her driving test just weeks before, waited at a junction for a car to turn left before pulling out into the main road and swinging right.
Suddenly, she saw a motorcycle heading towards her so she slammed on her brakes.
The bike – approaching head-on at around 35mph – swerved and skidded and Mannakee was catapulted from the pillion seat and through the Fiesta's rear driver's-side window.
PC Peat and Chopp survived the crash - but Mannakee's broke in two places and he died almost immediately.
Chopp was later fined £85 for careless driving by police, and an inquest ruled Mannakee's death had been a tragic accident.
What are the conspiracy theories?
Not everyone was convinced by the verdict and armchair detectives were quick to jump on Mannakee's death because he had been mysteriously removed from his job as Princess Diana's bodyguard just eight months before.
Apparently he had displayed "overfamiliar behaviour" with his employer and it was widely believed the pair were having an affair.
And then, in 2004, a dramatic tape of Diana speaking about her former bodyguard's death sent ripples through the conspiracy theorist community.
In the secret recordings, Diana - herself prone to believing in wild hearsay - was discussing the death of a former bodyguard of hers when she made the explosive claim had been "bumped off" by the security services.
She believed the death was to avoid embarrassment to the royal family.
The rumour mill was already churning when, just months later, Chopp revealed she had been pressured into admitting responsibility.
She chillingly spoke of seeing "dazzling lights" on the night of the fatal crash - leading some to believe both vehicles were deliberately distracted.
Chopp said at the time: "I have always wondered if some more sinister forces were at work that night, although I could never prove it.
"I believe, with conviction, I was not the cause of Barry Mannakee's death."
But the mystery car has never been traced and no evidence has ever been made public to prove Mannakee's death was a conspiracy.
Did Princess Diana and Barry Mannakee have an affair?
The Princess never mentioned Mannakee by name in the secret tapes but it was assumed she was referring to him.
It was also never proved the pair were in a relationship.
But Diana said in the tapes she was "deeply in love" with the unidentified security guard and was "quite happy to give all this up and to just go off and live with him."
What are the Princess Diana tapes?
The footage, never intended to be shown in public, was filmed during speech therapy sessions held at Kensington Palace in the early 1990s.
The tapes had been in Diana's possession and following her death were reportedly found in the home of ex-royal butler Paul Burrell.
The content of the recordings was considered so sensitive it was not used in a court case against Burrell, which later collapsed.
Diana's family insisted the tapes should be returned to them but following a lengthy battle they were returned to Settelen in 2004.
A lot of the footage has never been seen publicly, but excerpts have been screened in America and it is understood Diana spoke candidly about the state of her marriage and the pressure to live up to her royal image.
Why are the tapes being broadcast now?
The tapes have never been broadcast in Britain but exerts were screened in America after being sold to NBC in 2004.
At the time Sir Teddy Taylor Tory MP for Rochford and Southend East appealed to broadcasters not to use the tapes while Diana's sons were alive.
The BBC reportedly bought the rights to screen a few minutes of the footage in 2007, but the controversial plans were shelved.
Channel 4 will show extracts in a new documentary called, Diana, In Her Own Words.
Ralph Lee, Channel 4's deputy chief creative officer & head of factual, who commissioned the film, told : "The tapes, which show a relaxed and off-duty Diana, are hugely illuminating about her personality, humour and charm.
"Combined with historical context and interviews with her closest confidants, this film provides a nuanced, multilayered portrait of the most famous woman in the world and a mother who has shaped the future line of the royal family."
William and Harry spoke at great length about memories of their mother in the ITV documentary Diana, Our Mother, Her Life and Legacy.
