Princess Diana Made Secret Nighttime Visits to Help Sex Workers, Former Aide Claims

Princess Diana occasionally left Kensington Palace alone at night to provide financial assistance to sex workers and check on the welfare of the homeless, according to former royal press secretary Dickie Arbiter.

Arbiter shared these anecdotes in an interview with the Daily Mail's Palace Confidential, coinciding with the release of his new book, "On Duty with the Royals: The Inside Story of the Modern Monarchy." He stated that Diana viewed these nighttime excursions as "something she had to do," but they were also influenced by feelings of loneliness and boredom.

During his 12 years as a royal press secretary, Arbiter worked closely with Diana and King Charles, then Prince of Wales, from 1988 through their separation and divorce. He was also responsible for the media operations surrounding Diana's funeral in 1997.

Arbiter described the princess as feeling "very lonely" within the confines of Kensington Palace. To undertake these secret missions, she would often evade her protection officers. He explained the security protocols made it difficult for her friends to visit, requiring advance notification of names, addresses, and arrival/departure times.

"She entertained people at lunch, but she didn't entertain at dinner, so she was always desperate to find things to do," Arbiter recounted. "She would try to escape, telling her protection officer: 'I'm not going anywhere tonight. You can have the night off.'"

According to Arbiter, Diana would then take a car, often driving around the Paddington area. These trips were not solely for distributing money to sex workers but also involved observing how the homeless population was coping.

In the same interview, Arbiter also commented on Earl Spencer's recent memoir, "Swan Song: Diana, My Sister." He criticized the book as "boring," asserting that it was "long on him and short on factual accuracy." Spencer's book contains several controversial claims, including an assertion that King Charles sounded "giddily elated" in a phone call after Diana's death.

Buckingham Palace previously issued a rare statement in response to such claims, suggesting that grief can affect memory. Arbiter, who worked closely with Charles in the period following Diana's death, stated he does not recognize Spencer's depiction of the King. "I was there in the forefront. I was in charge of all media operations," Arbiter said. "There were things in [Spencer's memoir] where I thought: 'Where did he get this from?'"

Arbiter questioned the ongoing speculation surrounding Diana's life, stating, "I wonder why people can't just let Diana rest in peace. We have had nearly 30 years of the same things being regurgitated. There's nothing new to say."

He recounted his experience of seeing Charles on the day Diana's body was returned to Britain. "He got off that plane and I don't think I'd ever seen him that distraught since the death of his great uncle, Lord Mountbatten. The man was a wreck," Arbiter said. He dismissed Spencer's portrayal of Charles as being like someone who had "won the lottery" as "make believe."