Al Fayed ignored security call for help, inquest hears

A bodyguard who protected Diana, Princess of Wales, and Dodi Fayed in the days before their fatal car crash was left frustrated after his calls for extra security help were turned down, an inquest heard.

Kieran Wingfield and colleague Trevor Rees were left guarding the couple by themselves during a Mediterranean cruise on Mohamed al Fayed's luxury yacht the Jonikal, after the Harrods boss refused requests for more manpower.

Mr Wingfield, a former Royal Marine, was also hampered by a lack of co-operation from Mr Fayed's son Dodi who would only tell the bodyguards at the last minute he and Diana were due to leave the ship.

"I believe eight was the minimum required for the task on the Jonikal. Not because (they were) staying on the boat, (but) in the evening the couple went ashore and that's when we would have really needed the eight," Mr Wingfield told the inquest.

The bodyguard, who joined Mohamed al Fayed's security team in 1992, said the extra help was needed to recce the destinations the couple wanted to visit and provide him and Mr Rees (formerly Trevor Rees Jones) with time off.

Mr Wingfield, known as Kes, told the inquest into the deaths of Diana and Dodi he was told about the plan to provide the couple with only two bodyguards by his employer a few weeks before the cruise in the summer of 1997.

"When he informed me the trip was going to happen soon I asked who else was coming on the task, meaning which other protection officers were going to be with (me) and he informed me it was Trevor Rees Jones and that was it," the bodyguard told the hearing.

"I suggested to Mr Fayed that was not enough to provide adequate cover. His words to me were 'I want this to be low key. It's only going to be for two or three days."