The day-to-day life of a royal bodyguard is far from glamorous. Charged with shielding a high-profile figure from criminals, an aggressive press, and occasionally the very person they protect, these officers often spend more hours with their charge than with their own families. In his memoir Spare Prince Harry admits that, after a night of heavy drinking, he struck his longtime protector Billy the Rock – an incident that highlights how tightly personal and professional boundaries can intertwine.
When protection turns into passion
History shows that the intimacy of constant proximity can evolve into something more. In the 18th century Catherine the Great famously chose lovers from among her guards, a practice Tina Brown describes as almost inevitable for a woman “in a golden cage” whose only real male contact might be a sturdy protector. The pattern repeats in modern times. In 1979, Sergeant Peter Cross was assigned to Princess Anne. Both married, they quickly bonded over a shared straightforwardness, a sentiment Cross summed up: “We got on fantastically, basically because we’re both straight-talking people who like to be down to earth.” A sudden glance, a brushed hand, and an impulsive kiss at Gatcombe Park sparked a secret liaison that lasted until 1983, eventually leaking to the press and ending with Cross selling the story in 1985.
Princess Diana and Barry Mannakee
Princess Diana’s relationship with officer Barry Mannakee mirrors the Anne episode in its intensity. Assigned in the mid-1980s, Mannakee’s easy charm and humor provided Diana with a reprieve from an unhappy marriage. She repeatedly sought his company, even arranging overnight trips on the royal train so he could be nearby. Their closeness grew to the point where colleagues noted that Mannakee often gifted Diana plush toys and spent evenings in her private apartments. The affair reportedly culminated the night before Sarah Ferguson’s wedding, after which Mannakee was reassigned and later died in a motorcycle accident in May 1987—an event that left Diana devastated.
Late-20th-century scandals and royal resilience
Princess Stéphanie of Monaco illustrates how the guard-lover dynamic persisted into the 1990s. While promoting her 1991 album, she fell for bodyguard Daniel Ducruet, who was already expecting a child with another woman. The couple welcomed two children, Louis (1992) and Paulina (1994), before marrying in a modest civil ceremony on 1 July 1995. The union unraveled a year later after tabloid photos showed Ducruet with another woman. Although the divorce was finalized in October 1996, Stéphanie later bore a daughter, Camille, in July 1998—widely believed to be fathered by another protector, Jean-Raymond Gottlieb.
Princess Haya and Russell Flowers
The most recent high-profile case involves Princess Haya Bint Al Hussein and her former British bodyguard Russell Flowers. Their two-year affair emerged during Haya’s contentious divorce from Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum. Prosecutors revealed that the princess had lavished Flowers with expensive gifts, including a shotgun and luxury watches, financed in part by funds from her children’s accounts. After the affair became a leverage point for other security staff, Haya testified that she paid nearly $9 million to keep the matter suppressed. In December 2021, a UK court awarded her a £554 million settlement and confirmed that she will require lifelong protection.
These stories, from Catherine the Great’s 18th-century dalliances to Prince Harry’s modern security disputes, demonstrate a recurring theme: the intense proximity between a monarch and the individual tasked with safeguarding them often blurs the line between duty and desire. While each episode ends differently—some in tragedy, others in legal battles—the underlying dynamic remains unchanged. As long as royalty exists, the demand for personal protection will persist, and with it, the possibility that a bodyguard may become something more.
