New Diana crash twist

The security services forced Princess Diana to abandon plans for a holiday in America weeks before she died, it is revealed today.

The block on her travel plans meant that instead she took a summer break with Mohamed Fayed. This ultimately led to her going to Paris with his son Dodi, where they died.

British or US intelligence had forced Diana to change her plans to stay with American billionaire Teddy Forstmann in the summer of 1997, saying it was too dangerous to take her sons there, it is claimed.

The revelation that the princess would probably still be alive today if the security services had not intervened is bound to raise fresh questions about conspiracy theories.

The claims are made by author Andrew Morton in his new book, Diana: In Pursuit Of Love. Mohamed Fayed has always insisted that Diana and Dodi were murdered in a plot involving MI6 agents and US intelligence.

Morton writes: "Diana was looking forward to a week's holiday with the two young men who had never let her down and whom she loved unconditionally, William and Harry."

Morton, with whom the princess cooperated on his bestseller Diana: Her True Story, says she had accepted an invitation from " one- time American boyfriend" Mr Forstmann to stay with him at his house in the Hamptons. But as she was travelling with the princes, "she needed security clearance".

He writes: "In what turned out to be a tragic twist of fate, the security services - Forstmann's friends are not sure

whether it was the American or the British side - vetoed Diana's holiday plans. They had doubts about the security surrounding the billionaire's hideaways or perhaps a possible threat from elsewhere.

"Ironically the decision by the security services, perhaps more than any of their perceived plotting in Paris, was what led to Diana being in Paris on 31 August." Scotland Yard detectives carrying out a ?3million inquiry into Diana's death are planning to interview Morton over the new claims.

Morton also claims that Princess Diana leaked the Duchess of York's divorce plans in an attempt to stop bad press about herself.

He says Diana betrayed Fergie in February 1992 because she was anxious that a book by Lady Colin Campbell hinted she was to blame for the collapse of her marriage to Charles.

Morton suggested that the only thing to keep the princess off the front pages would be an even bigger story - and she "instantly provided the blockbuster story we required".

He added: "She had recently learned that Fergie had visited the Queen to talk about a separation from Prince Andrew. After much discussion the Queen had agreed that a separation was the best option."