Originally Posted by
carlo
It's interesting you brought up that paparazzi story, Ollie. I am making my way through Barbra Streisand's book and she mentioned how brutal the paparazzo can be. She mentioned that they were particularly bad when she was in Italy in the 80's, and I would not be surprised if the same could be said about the paps in Paris that Diana also encountered around that same time. Barbra said that she was shopping in Italy and the photographers swarmed her like 'locusts' and were 'incredibly aggressive', rushing right up to her. She had made a bargain with them, asking if she allowed them to take her photo, if they would agree to leave her alone. She said that they continued to be incessant. She was so frightened that she had to hide in a nearby shop and the owner was kind enough to give her refuge and locked their door. Her security guard was trying to protect her from a belligerent photographer who got in her face, and he had a big vicious dog that attacked her security guard. The security guard was acting in defense, yet he was the one who was arrested. She said the papers were happy to twist the story and reported on the security guard's arrest, stating that the guard was the one who attacked photographer's dog, which was not true. I read a similar story in Tom Jones' book as well, involving the arrest of one of his security people overseas, after a brutal encounter with the paparazzo in the 80's. I guess Diana could have benefitted from having security personnel with her at all times, so she would not have had to literally take the situation into her own hands, by attacking the photographer with her shoe. It's possible she was acting out of feeling frightened, much like Babs. These photographers have known how to legally 'cross the line' and provoke celebrities, in order to get them to react. This would mean more money in their pockets if they get the photo. There weren't laws on this in the 80's and 90's, like there are now in many countries.