Princess Diana's close friend Lana Marks still feels guilty about her death.

Princess Diana

Princess Diana

The handbag designer was supposed to take a four-day trip to Milan with Diana in August 1997 but had to cancel after her father died of heart failure.

Instead, Diana took the fateful trip to Paris with her boyfriend Dodi Fayed, where they died in a car crash and Lana is still haunted by her close friend's death.

She told The Sun: "It was a terrible time.

"I was supposed to be on vacation with Diana in Milan right then. We were going to go to Lake Como before flying back.

"But my father died suddenly so I had to cancel my vacation with the princess and travel to my homeland.

"I could only reach her butler Paul Burrell. I asked him to get my urgent message to her.

"She called me in South Africa and we had a chance to talk. I felt bad because she was at a loose end.

"Then she went to Paris with her lover Dodi Fayed and that terrible accident happened."

And Lana admitted that 20 years later, she is still devastated over Diana's death.

She added: "For the next few years I was in shock. I still feel the pain of it all. I constantly think, 'What if she'd been with me?' All that might not have happened.

"I feel terrible when I have that thought but can't get rid of it. I'm thinking of her more than usual now due to the anniversary and it definitely still plays on my mind."


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