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Lee Sansum, a former Royal Military Police officer, was one of Princess Diana's bodyguards before her death and accompanied her on a family holiday to the French resort of Saint-Tropez in 1997.
Sansum's wife, Kate, made the touching announcement on Facebook on Monday, revealing that her husband suffered a sudden heart attack.
The father-of-six was also one of Alex Salmond's bodyguards during the former prime minister's term in office in 2014.
The former royal bodyguard, whom the princess called Rambo, had black belts in karate, jiu-jitsu and kickboxing and was no stranger to working with Sylvester Stallone, Pele, Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise.
At the time of Diana's death, he was a member of the security team of Mohamed Al Fayed, owner of the Hôtel Ritz Paris and the former Harrods department store and Fulham FC team, and looked after her during her holidays in the south of France.
He was assigned to look after Diana and her sons, Princes William and Harry, during their stay at Al-Fayed's 30-bedroom villa in Saint-Tropez that summer - just a month before the princess's death.
In his book, Sansum said he formed a close bond with Diana and the young princes, especially Harry.
He revealed that he had tried to teach the two boys some kickboxing, but they were too "anxious."
And for his good services, he was given a touching letter of thanks from Diana, who wrote that she was grateful for the "10 magical days... it would not have been possible without your invaluable contribution."
Lee, who was born in Burnley, said Diana would wake up at 7am every day and talk to him. He said Diana was worried about her life.
In an interview in 2022, he said that “I could have been in the car Diana was in on the night of the accident. We drew lots to see who would accompany Trevor [Rees-Jones] that weekend. When I found out they weren’t wearing seatbelts in the accident, I understood why they didn’t survive. I’ve always insisted on that.”
Sansum, a former Royal Military Police officer, added that it was standard practice for the family to wear seat belts, an order sent by Mohamed Al-Fayed.
During his long and varied career, he also worked as an undercover agent in Northern Ireland and joined SIB, the army's internal affairs unit, before entering the world of private security, operating in hot spots around the world, such as Libya and the breakaway state of Somaliland.
According to the Mirror newspaper, the bodyguard was introduced to billionaire Al-Fayed, who was so impressed by Sansum that he thought of him as a member of his family.
But caring for the royal family was not without its difficulties, and in 2018, the bodyguard revealed he struggled with PTSD while caring for Princess Diana and her two young sons.
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