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STARTLING claims in a new royal biography allege the Queen reacted to news of Princess Diana's car crash by saying 'someone must have greased the brakes'.

Diana was tragically killed in the crash in a Paris tunnel in August 1997. Her death sent a wave of grief through the country and many at the time were critical of the Royal Family's detached reaction.

Now, royal biographer, Ingrid Seward has sensationally claimed that the Queen made the remark when the news of Diana's crash was broken to her.

(Image: PA)

Seward wrote in the Daily Mail : "At first it was thought that, though the car crash in the Pont de l’Alma tunnel was serious, Diana had not been killed.

"According to one witness present when the Queen heard the initial news, she mused out loud: ‘Someone must have greased the brakes.’

"That astonishing remark reveals something of the extraordinary and complex relationship between her and Diana."

(Image: RR Auction/PA Wire)

The book is also said to reveal the Queen's initial fondness of Diana before the princess' anxiousness resulted in their relationship becoming more cold.

New pictures released this week show unseen shots of Diana's wedding to Prince Charles in 1981.

Diana is also pictured alongside her new mother-in-law the Queen as she lets her hair down in Buckingham Palace but there appears to be little warmth between them.

Minutes earlier she wed Prince Charles in front of thousands of wellwishers at St Paul's Cathedral, while millions watched on TV screens across the globe.

A dozen snaps that were left out of Charles and Diana's wedding album will go up for sale at an American auction next month.

The pictures were taken by close relative Lord Lichfield, who was the only photographer allowed behind the scenes on the big day.

Six of them show Princess Diana in her glorious wedding dress after the ceremony.

In two of the pictures, she is seen carrying her youngest bridesmaid, five-year-old Clementine Hambro, through the grand corridoors.

Other photographs show Prince of Wales, the Princess Royal, Princess Margaret and the Duke of York as well as a backstage pass invitation to the throne room.