WILLIAM BLAMES CHARLES FOR DIANA'S DEATH

The Globe
Joe Mullins
January 26, 1999

Tormented by grief and memories of his mom, Prince William is holding his father responsible for her death-and royal insiders fear the handsome teen is starting to crack up.

The youngster is obsessed with the accident that killed Diana and scoffs at the just-released official French report blaming only the driver, telling pals: " I hope my dad can sleep at nights- because I can't."

Palace sources say the 16-year-old prince has undergone therapy sessions with a leading psychiatrist and grief counselors-but his anger over his mom's senseless death is building. "Wills is in a fury," said a palace source.

" He believes Prince Charles is responsible for her death because he virtually drove her out of the royal family into the arms of a playboy." In an angry confrontation with Prince Charles just before Christmas, William lashed out at the spies and plotters who drove my mother to her death, " say insiders.

He told his father that his mother's final years were a nightmare because she had been " followed and spied upon by these people."

"They listened in on her phone calls, they watched her every move. She would have been safe in England if you had been kinder to her," he sobbed.

The report of the French inquiry-which has been leaked to the press-blames the accident 16 months ago on the shocking drunken driving of chauffer Henri Paul. But William believes the report is a " whitewash" that never addresses the underlying reasons for his mom's tragic death.

" He's convinced his mother needed a super-rich boyfriend like Dodi Fayed to escape they royal family's constant spying," says a source. Deep down, William has dark suspicions there might be some truth to stories his mom's car was sabotaged.

He also worries that British agents had a hand in the crash because they viewed Princess Diana as an embarrassment to the royal family.

The confused teen asked one pal: " Do you really think they could have done this? So much has been said that I don't know what to believe anymore. Sometimes I look at my father and think: " How much does he really know? How much is there that he hasn't told me about Mother's crash?"

William's view is right on target, says a former British spy who gave evidence to Judge Herve Stephan during the French inquiry.

In an exclusive GLOBE interview, Richard Tomlinson-who worked for M16, the British counterpart of the CIA-says Henri Paul was on the payroll of the British secret service and no doubt was reporting back on Di's behavior. " I felt it was my duty to tell Judge Stephan about Henri Paul's links to M16, " said Tomlinson, 37.

Royal insiders say Charles is shocked that his son is turning against him. "When William told his dad he was responsible for Diana's relationship with dangerous Dodi, Charles was hurt and angry, " said an insider.

" He snapped back that Diana was headstrong and willful and could have lived a perfectly contented life in London.

" But William hit back, saying his mom was in despair because there were spies at every turn. He sobbed:" You could have helped, you should have loved her more."

Charles has become a stranger in his son's eyes, said another source. William's seething anger recently drove him to act out in shocking fashion. As GLOBE reported last week. he and 14 pals went on a boozing binge in Windsor Castle after a dinner party.

As Charles puts his life in order-bringing his mistress Camilla more and more into public life- his older son is begining to rebel, confirmed a palace insider. " He only speaks to his father when he's absolutely forced to. After Christmas, Charles wanted to take him skiing to Klosters in Switzerland with his younger brother Harry. But Wills wouldn't hear of it. " Instead, he went to a friend's home in Scotland. " William didn't want to pretend anymore that everything is fine.

" He told friends: " If father thinks I'm going to accept Camilla, he's crazy. I'll never allow her to be known as my stepmother."

Another royal insider said William has become a walking time bomb because of his grief and anger at his dad.

" He'll never get over the tragedy. He's like a volcano waiting to explode."