Barry Mannakee

In 2004, Lord Brocket said that, while he was serving a prison sentence for fraud, a fellow-prisoner who was a former police officer told him that forensic evidence in a secret file showed the Suzuki bike had been deliberately tampered with.

On a videotape recorded by the voice coach of Diana, Princess of Wales, Peter Settelen in 1992, Diana admitted that from 1984 through to 1986, she had been "deeply in love with someone who worked in this environment." Although she never used his name, it is thought she was referring to Mannakee. In 1986, Mannakee was transferred to the Diplomatic Protection Squad after his managers had determined his relationship with Diana had been "inappropriate,..." with Diana saying on the tape that Mannakee had been "chucked out" from his role as her bodyguard following suspicion that the two were having an affair. She said "I was only happy when he was around" and that his death was "the biggest blow of my life."

Shortly after 10 pm on 15 May 1987, Mannakee was killed on the way to his home in Loughton when the Suzuki motorbike he was riding as a passenger, driven by a fellow police officer Steven Peat, crashed into a Ford Fiesta driven by 17-year-old Nicola Chopp, who had passed her driving test six weeks earlier, on the A11 road in Woodford, north-east London. After waiting for a car to turn left, Chopp turned right across the motorbike's path. Peat swerved to avoid the car, but a collision occurred and Mannakee was catapulted into the rear side window of Chopp's car and died almost instantly after breaking his spine in two places. Peat and Chopp both survived. An inquest into Mannakee's death concluded it was an accident.

Mannakee was a police officer with the Royal Protection Squad. In 1985, he became bodyguard to Diana, Princess of Wales. In 1986, he was transferred to Diplomatic Protection Group based in central London. Mannakee was married to Susan, and they had two daughters, Michelle and Clare.

Barry Albert Mannakee (1 June 1947 – 15 May 1987) was a police officer with the Royal Protection Squad and bodyguard to Diana, Princess of Wales. Mannakee was transferred from his role as bodyguard for Diana following what was described as an "inappropriate" relationship between the two. Mannakee died in a road traffic accident in 1987, leading to a conspiracy theory that his death was not an accident. An inquest found no evidence of this.