A Cincinnati Private Eye Protecting Princess Di: A Fascinating Footnote in History

By Rich McDonough and Deborah Aull

Remarkably, Princess Diana of Wales and I actively worked on a case together. She’d personally contacted my Shamus Detective Agency in 1993!

Princess Diana’s childhood friend, Juli, needed to find her 11 year son. He’d been kidnapped from London two years earlier and was possibly in Cincinnati.

This true story details the adventure of Princess Diana, Juli and I! We traveled undetected through Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee. Always following the kidnapper and looking for any sign of the boy. The search included a quick, yet frightful, trip to Phoenix.

We encountered dangerous close calls and high speed chases! Our cover was nearly blown when we were spotted on a stakeout and another time when Princess Diana was recognized.

You’ll read about our hilarious and fun times! Including a visit to a Blues Bar in Memphis, and Princess Diana doing her own undercover investigation in Louisville!

However, our main goal never wavered. We had to get the boy! Before it was too late!

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Apr 8, 2011
• ISBN: 9781456757205

Rich McDonough

About the author: Rich “Mac” McDonough is a Cincinnati resident and has been the owner of the Shamus Private Detective Agency for over thirty years. He loves his work and says he has no plans to ever retire. Mac can be reached at [phone], P.O. Box 43371, Cincinnati, Ohio 45243, or by e-mail [e-mail] About the author and editor: Deborah Aull is a freelance editor and writer residing in Independence, Kentucky. She was born in 1964 and grew up in Northern KY. She works for an attorney in Cincinnati, Ohio. When she was asked how she got the cool job of writing about Princess Diana she shared her story: "Is there anything that you have never done but would like to do? And, if so, what would it be?" This was the whimsical question that my part-time boss, an attorney, asked me one day. My response came easily. I told him that I would, one, like to write a book and, two, work in a library; even if it was shelving books! In an interesting twist a few months later my boss came to me and asked: "Do you still want to write a book? I have a client who is looking for someone to do just that. It has to be someone that he can trust 100% with confidential information." He went on to say, "I suggested you, he'll be calling you. His name is Mac." I laughed thinking he was teasing me. He wasn't. Sure enough, Rich "Mac" McDonough called to set up a face to face meeting with me. Turns out he is a prominent private investigator of many years in Cincinnati OH. I didn't want to meet at his office because I would have felt intimidated. A restaurant would be too noisy. We arranged to meet at the Kenton County Library in Covington, KY. I was curious as to what type of book he had in mind. Mac began to tell me a fascinating story about a case he had worked on with Princess Diana of Wales. The one-time future Queen of England! I told Mac that I thought I could handle it even though I had absolutely no experience as a book writer. We worked out some details and he hired me on the spot. Right then and there I had to sign a 'confidentiality agreement' which Mac readily had in his briefcase. As I walked to my car I couldn't help but wonder just exactly how much in over my head I had gotten! But I was excited. I was excited about the story and thrilled that I was about to do something that I always wanted to do: write a book. Oh, and I couldn't tell a soul! This book was basically written 'over the phone.' Over the next few months Mac phoned each day with a day to day account of his case with Princess Di. And I took notes, notes and more notes. At the end of the day I would organize my thoughts and call him with additional questions. Mac would laugh because I would ask things such as, what she was wearing? What she was eating and drinking? What about her personality? Was she funny or serious? Did she act like, well, a princess? Was she down to earth? Mac's focus was more on talking about 'the case' but I wanted personal information because I wanted to feel as if I knew her, too. Funny, a girl from Independence KY writing about a real princess as if we were close friends. Even I didn't know how the case was going to end but I couldn't wait to find out! It was all very action-packed and suspenseful! And that poor kidnapped boy! And I wondered about his frantic mother who was Princess Di's childhood friend. The book didn't have a title, yet. We kicked some ideas around but nothing 'stuck.' One day the name of book popped into my head! I called Mac and told him I had the title: A CINCINNATI PRIVATE EYE PROTECTING PRINCESS DI: A Fascin

Book preview

A CINCINNATI PRIVATE

EYE PROTECTING

Princess Di

A Fascinating Footnote In History

RICH MCDONOUGH

and DEBORAH AULL

37401.png

AuthorHouse™

1663 Liberty Drive

Bloomington, IN 47403

www.authorhouse.com

Phone: [phone]

© 2011 Rich McDonough and Deborah Aull. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 01/17/2023

ISBN: 978-1-4567-5721-2 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4567-5720-5 (e)

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models,

and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

CONTENTS

Author’s Note

One

Two

Three

Four

Five

Six

Seven

Eight

Nine

Ten

Eleven

Twelve

Thirteen

Fourteen

Fifteen

Sixteen

Seventeen

Eighteen

Nineteen

Twenty

Twenty-One

Twenty-Two

Twenty-Three

Twenty-Four

Twenty-Five

Twenty-Six

Twenty-Seven

Twenty-Eight

Twenty-Nine

Thirty

Thirty-One

Thirty-Two

Thirty-Three

Thirty-Four

Thirty-Five

Thirty-Six

Dedicated

To My Brother

Jer

Jerry Lee McDonough

Private Detective

AUTHOR’S NOTE

I felt like it was time to share this story because enough years had passed. It’s been eighteen years since Princess Diana and I worked together. Fourteen years since her death.

The story is true. I believe it is a fascinating footnote in history and deserves to be told.

Furthermore, it is a remarkable display of decency by Princess Diana. The case was not only about Princess Diana but also about her friend, whose name I have changed. I purposefully did not give precise dates to further provide privacy for the innocent and the not so innocent persons in this case. Although, the fall of 1993 is accurate.

In addition to a few other names, a couple of simple things were changed. An exact residential address in Memphis was changed, for example. Although, most of the other addresses are accurate.

Without planning it, in any way whatsoever, this book ended with 36 chapters. I couldn’t shake the feeling that this meant something. Then it occurred to me that Princess Diana was 36 years old when she died. Just an odd coincidence that I wanted to mention.

ONE

Right here in Cincinnati! And in person! It was in the early fall of 1993 when Princess Diana of Wales hired me.

It all began with that early morning phone call at my Shamus Detective Agency office. I had walked over to my small refrigerator and taken out a piece of Popeye’s crispy fried chicken. I’d placed it there the night before.

Fried chicken for breakfast is not unusual for me. And I often find myself eating borderline stale donuts and drinking lukewarm coffee. This is not a cushy nine to five life, I’m afraid.

I’d just sat down when the phone rang. Normally, I don’t get in the office this early, but I had worked on an all night stakeout trying to get the goods on a cheating spouse.

TWO

When I answered the phone I was a little tired. But I always answer the phone with a simple low key, Mac, here.

A female voice started talking. At first I had some trouble understanding what she was saying. Her voice was very soft. She spoke with an English accent, making it just a little harder to understand her.

I had to ask her to repeat what she’d just said. The caller was very cordial and apologized for not speaking clearly and loudly enough the first time. She started to reiterate her first statement again.

And this time, as she introduced herself, I heard her loud and clear! She casually stated that she was Princess Diana of Wales and that I had been referred to her by a confidential and prominent source.

She indicated that she needed help on a very important matter and required my immediate services.

I wasn’t in the mood for an early morning prank caller handing me a line of bullshit!

However, I must say, this caller captured my attention and I kept listening. I didn’t just hang up in total disbelief when she started to tell me who she was and what she wanted.

My other phone started to ring and I asked ‘The Princess’ to please hold for a moment. It turned out to be my sometimes right hand man, Jer. He’s been at my side almost since I first hung out my shingle.

I snickered, telling Jer about the nut job on the phone. I told him that Princess Diana of Wales needed our help.

What the hell do you think, Jer? I asked.

I think it is a load of shit, Mac. Just hang up on the nut case. I need to talk to you about something else anyway and it is important.

THREE

I didn’t hang up on her. I allowed my gut feeling and years of experience in this business help me make this judgment call. That usually works for me, one way or the other. I wasn’t ready to throw this caller to the wind, just yet.

There was something about the callers speech, accent and voice tone that sounded authentic enough to me to be the real thing. She spoke in a very dignified and educated manner.

Besides, over the years I have worked for a couple of well known movie stars and some other famous entertainers. I even did work for a Supreme Court Justice! Each of their phone calls began this way. Every initial call has to start somewhere!

What the hell! I’ve been around a long time and have a good reputation. Why couldn’t I get a call from someone like this? Even though it may be hard to believe!

Most all the calls that come into my office are legit, I reasoned. I’ve been signing up clients for years and making a living from them, I told myself.

I was balancing the phone with just two fingers as the rest of them were moist with chicken grease. I chuckled to myself thinking about the irony of speaking to a possible Princess on a telephone now lightly coated with oil.

This caller could be for real. So I decided to play along with her until I could get something to substantiate her claim.

I continued to listen to her story while sipping just enough coffee to wash down the chicken.

FOUR

The caller said she needed an ‘Inquiry Agent’ to help her on a child snatching case that happened two years ago.

She explained that the son of her very dear friend, Juli Smithson, had been taken by the ex-boyfriend and biological father of the boy. The boy was now eleven years old and Juli had not seen him for two years.

The caller also indicated that she would need bodyguard protection. However, the caller did not want to reveal anymore details over the phone.

The mysterious caller then asked if we could please meet for a face to face consultation.