The former soldier was shocked to be made redundant after eight years of impeccable service…

PRINCESS Di’s ex-chauffeur claims she would be alive if he was driving on the night she died.

Steve Davies, 61, said he was “forced out” after rogue BBC reporter Martin Bashir spread lies about him.

Princess Di’s ex-chauffeur Steve Davies, pictured, claims she would be alive if he was driving on the night she died Credit: News Group Newspapers Ltd

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Steve said he was ‘forced out’ after rogue BBC reporter Martin Bashir spread lies about him Credit: Getty

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Diana was killed the following year in a Paris car crash Credit: AFP
Diana was killed the following year in a Paris car crash.

Breaking a 30-year silence, Steve said: “I’d have taken a bullet for Diana. My job was my life. I was always there for her. I went from having the dream job to having to start again from scratch.”

The former soldier was shocked to be made redundant after eight years of impeccable service.

He had no idea why — until watching Netflix drama The Crown decades later.

In a bid to win Diana’s trust and secure his infamous ­Panorama interview, Bashir falsely told her Steve leaked stories about her to the Press.

Steve told how he “cannot put into words my grief when Diana was killed” in August 1997.

He said: “All I know is that if life had taken a different ­trajectory, if I’d been driving her that night in Paris, she would still be here today . . . because I would’ve kept her safe.”

In May, Steve got compensation from the BBC following Bashir’s false allegations.

But he said: “They should have said something beforehand . . . they covered up Bashir from the beginning.

“In essence he told her I was a traitor, when all along the treachery was his.”