Scandal-dogged Sarah Ferguson's sharp wit and Princess Diana's insider knowledge led to the pair forming an unlikely bond in the early 1980s - and sharing savage digs at royal staff, OK! can reveal.
As relative outsiders in the royal family, Ferguson, now 66, and Diana, Princess of Wales, forged a close friendship, finding common ground in their frustrations with the rigid Palace bureaucracy.
Source: MEGASarah Ferguson and Princess Diana were friendly in the early 1980s.
The depths of their friendship has now been laid bare by former royal butler Paul Burrell, who worked closely with Diana for years.
He makes the revelations in his latest book Royal Insider, saying about the duo: "They would discuss the dour men in grey suits within the Royal Household, nicknamed 'the enemy within.'"He added: "Diana, having been in the royal family for five years, was able to offer Sarah some sage advice on the dos and don'ts, whom she could trust, and a rather lengthy list of those with whom she should be cautious. It was tragic that the relationship between them disintegrated after the publication of Sarah's autobiography, My Story, in 1996."
Source: MEGASarah Ferguson and Princess Diana would discuss 'dour men in grey suits.
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Fergie's autobiography deal with Simon & Schuster came with a reported advance of $1-$1.9 million. At the time, company boss Michael Korda stated: "We are delighted to have this unique opportunity of publishing a book in which the Duchess of York describes herself and her experiences as they were, rather than as they have been portrayed." Ferguson is said to have assured the publisher: "See me right, and I'll get you Di as well," prompting the offer of an additional $1.3 million if Diana agreed to contribute her own book.
Her and Diana's digs at "gray men" now have a sinister undertone as she came to use the term for the courtiers and "Establishment" figures she became convinced were plotting to have her killed in a staged accident before her tragic death in a Paris car smash in 1997 at the age of 36.
Source: MEGAPrincess Diana passed away in 1997.
Burrell's revelations come after it was revealed secret Paris files on Di's death will remain locked away for nearly six decades. They are being kept shrouded in secrecy as the 30th anniversary of her death approaches in 2027, prompting renewed scrutiny of why the documents are being withheld until 2082.
The 6,000-page dossier, completed by French police in 2007 after an 18-month investigation into the collision that killed Diana and her boyfriend Dodi Fayed, 42, is stored in the basement archives of the Palais de Justice in Paris. It is guarded by armed officers and protected under an obscure rule - article L. 213-2 of France's heritage code - which blocks public access to certain national archives for at least 75 years. As the file was finalized in 2007, it is sealed until 2082 at the earliest, though a source said: "French authorities can extend the restriction indefinitely."A spokesman for the Palais de Justice said in one refusal to open the files: "The investigation file is placed in the archives of the Paris Court of Appeal. In application of article L213-2 of the heritage code, it cannot be consulted before the expiration of a period of 75 years." They added: "There is no online version of this archive." A source who viewed part of the dossier said: "This secrecy stinks of a cover up and conspiracy at the highest level, and is typical of French bureaucracy." As 2027 nears - marking three decades since Diana's fatal crash in Paris's Pont de l'Alma tunnel - several figures involved in the original proceedings say the decision to hide the file until the 2080s risks fueling suspicion rather than quieting it. One legal source familiar with the archives said: "Sealing the documents until long after everyone involved is gone only deepens the sense that the full truth is being pushed out of reach - and many believe these files contain the definitive truth about the circumstances of Diana's death."