Five main versions of the death of Princess Diana. Diana, Princess of Wales
Dedicated to the life and work of the great fortuneteller Vanga.
In her book “The Truth about Vanga”, the niece of the fortuneteller Krasimira Stoyanova reveals the secrets of many previously unknown predictions. It is known that the Bulgarian clairvoyant often predicted events in the lives of world celebrities. One of them was princess Diana.
On the day when the world community welcomed the newlyweds of the royal family - Diana And Charles“Vanga saw the gloomy ending to this story. “This wedding will kill the girl,” she said clearly. “We will die together... she will hear about my death, but we will die together.” Both the fortune teller and Princess Diana died in August. Vanga died on August 11, 1996. Princess Diana was involved in a fatal car accident on August 31, 1997.
Wedding of Diana and Prince Charles. Photo: kinopoisk.ru
In the life of the princess, luck and misfortune constantly went hand in hand. She was lucky to get into the most famous family in Great Britain, but no one would call her personal life happy. She was the favorite of her people, but was not loved by her own husband. Diana could serve as a role model in the purity of her intentions, the nobility of her behavior and the humility with which she accepted all difficulties. But fate did not give her the opportunity to realize herself even in good deeds - Diana died in her prime.
After the car accident that killed Princess Diana and her lover Dodi al-Fayed, many rumors and speculations surfaced. It is difficult to say which of this is true and which is guesswork, but it became clear that both for Lady Di herself and for those around her, this death was not a complete surprise. Here are some mystical facts about the death of the princess.
1. After her divorce from Prince Charles in August 1996, Diana said that August was the most unlucky month for her, and most likely she would also die in August.
2. Princess's butler Paul Burrell quoted a letter from Lady Di, in which she once again and more specifically formulated her gloomy forebodings: “I have entered the most terrible phase of my life. Anything can happen now. For example, the brakes in my car malfunction, an accident and death. This will allow Charles to marry Camilla».
3. Together with Dodi, Diana flew to the British healer Rita Rogers 19 days before the tragic car accident.
4. Another clairvoyant - Simone Simons– diagnosed Diana with “black energy vortices” located on the left side (side of the heart) of the princess’s bed. According to the conclusion of a medical examination, Diana died from a broken heart.
5. The only surviving witness to the disaster Trevor Rhys-Jones doesn't remember anything.
There are many versions of the accident in which Princess Diana died, but one thing remains important - Vanga connected Diana’s death with her wedding to Prince Charles. It is unknown whether this is a coincidence, but it is clear that if Diana had not become a member of the royal family, things could have turned out differently.
According to recent public opinion polls, 50 percent of Britons surveyed believe that there are some secrets or omissions surrounding the death of the Princess of Wales. Today in Britain there are more and more insistent demands to begin our own official investigation into the circumstances of the death of the Princess of Wales. The fashion magazine Tatler, designed for a respectable and wealthy audience, is waging an active campaign demanding such an investigation, publishing corresponding appeals on the magazine cover. The editor-in-chief of this magazine, as well as his colleague from the Daily Mirror, are convinced that the case of the death of perhaps the most famous woman of the twentieth century, who died under mysterious circumstances, should and must become the subject of an official investigation in her home country.
Why do they believe in a conspiracy?
A month ago, the book “A Royal Duty” (a sensational book “by definition”), published by Paul Burrell, a former butler and personal friend of Diana, only added fuel to the fire of “dianomania” that has recently raged again in Albion. In one of her letters, which was first published at the suggestion of Paul Burrell, Diana, a few months before her death, made a terrible assumption: she would not die a natural death - her end would be a car accident. “I am going through the most dangerous phase of my life today,” Diana wrote. “Someone is planning an accident that will happen to my car...” The princess suggested that her car’s brakes would fail and she would die from her head wounds. And these brakes will fail for a reason. The accident will be staged in order to clear the way for Prince Charles to marry Camilla Parker Bowles, his long-term passion. In her letter, Diana named the name of her alleged conspirator, but in the publication this name was covered in bold black...
Diana believed in the conspiracy. Did anyone else believe in him? Paul Burrell, Diana's confidante, the man to whom she confided her deepest secrets (in her will, the princess gave the butler 50 thousand pounds sterling "for faithful service", and Her Majesty awarded Burrell a royal award for his devotion to Diana) claims that Diana did not suffer from paranoia, that all this was in fact true: “Of course she was bugged, she was followed.” In a recent interview with the BBC, Burrell said that he and Diana rolled up the carpets in the living room, trying to find bugs, and that Diana removed the mirror hanging on her wall after one of her former security officers warned princess that there is a “mirror method” of listening to someone who is being monitored.
It turns out that the princess was followed by someone's shadows? Whose? After the death of Diana, a version was circulated in Arab circles that the accident could have been the work of British intelligence services, whose task was to prevent at all costs the possible marriage of the mother of the heirs to the English throne with the son of an Egyptian merchant, in other words, with a parvenu. And although the absurdity of such a theory could only compete with the spy intricacies of the Bond girls, there were those who wanted to believe in it.
The main wisher was the father of Dodi, Diana's friend, who died with her in a car accident - Mohammed al-Fayed, an Egyptian billionaire, owner of the luxurious Ritz hotel in Paris and until recently the owner of the famous London department store Harrods. “I believe 99.9 percent that it was not an accident. It was a conspiracy, and I will not rest until I establish the real reasons for what happened. I will find the one who provoked this accident,” al-Fayed promised in an interview with the British newspaper "Mirror" six months after the accident. A father who had lost his only son, deeply offended by the fact that the heir to his multimillion-dollar empire did not find even the most modest place in the funeral service for Diana, because none of the royal family and Diana’s relatives expressed their condolences to Muhammad, al-Fayed began to conduct an intensive investigation using his own own detectives and, it should be noted, succeeded in some ways. More on this, however, a little later.
“I am going through the most dangerous phase of my life today,” Diana wrote. “Someone is planning an accident that will happen to my car...”
In the meantime, is it possible to seriously consider Al-Fayed’s version of the conspiracy, taking into account the piquant circumstance that the rich Egyptian was an exclusively interested party in this whole matter: interested in the marriage of his son to the English princess. According to al-Fayed's vows, Dodi and Diana were married in five minutes. Mohammed claimed that he personally paid for the purchase of a diamond and emerald engagement ring worth £150,000, which Dodi ordered from jeweler Alberto Repossi in Monte Carlo on the eve of the accident. This jewel was part of a collection of engagement rings called "Tell Me Yes."
And Diana, according to al-Fayed the father, said “yes” to his son’s proposal: Dodi, calling his father from the Ritz Hotel, allegedly told him this good news and announced that he would put a ring on Diana’s finger upon arrival in his Paris apartment. "She never received a ring! And it was not her plan to marry Dodie." Paul Burrell made this strong statement a couple of weeks ago in one of his television interviews. Her former servant, who knew “everything” about Diana, said that the princess joked about the fact that she had already received a necklace and earrings as a gift from Dodi. And one day she asked Paul: “What if I get a ring?” And he answered her: “Put it on your right hand.” "Why?" “Because on the left hand a ring is worn as a sign of love, and on the right hand as a sign of friendship.” According to Burrell, he and Diana laughed heartily together over this “threatening prospect” of Dodina’s ring...
Mysterious incidents in the Alma tunnel
So was there a ring? And which finger did Diana intend to put it on? No one can answer this question for certain today. He and Dodi never got to where, according to al-Fayed, his butler was waiting for them this time with champagne on ice to celebrate their engagement - they didn’t get to Dodi’s Paris apartment, having completed their life path in a pile of twisted metal under the Alma Bridge. How did this all happen? Why? And whose fault is it?
Oddly enough, there is no answer to these questions either. Oddly enough, because the investigation lasted two whole years, because the focus of the investigation was the death of the one whose name was on the lips of the whole world. However, there are so many oddities in this whole tragic story that it’s easier to say that it consists of them. This is the conclusion reached by a recently published investigation by reporters from the British television channel Channel 5, who obtained exclusive access to all twenty-seven volumes of the case about the accident in the Alma tunnel. In these documents, hitherto inaccessible to the public and the press, British journalists discovered what they were looking for - innuendoes and contradictions, mysterious disappearances of witnesses and evidence.
Riddle one: what exactly did the princess die from? It has been established for certain that two of the four passengers in the Mercedes died almost instantly - Dodi and the French driver Henri Paul. Diana's bodyguard, Trevor Rhys-Jones, survived after being seriously injured. Diana died in hospital at 4 am, more than three hours after the accident. According to doctors, the Princess of Wales died as a result of extensive internal bleeding caused by a rupture of the pulmonary artery. However, according to the assumptions of the famous American cardiologist John Ochsner, if the artery damaged as a result of the accident had been severed, Diana would have died instantly. The fact that she lived gives, according to him, reason to believe that there was no rupture - there was only internal bleeding from the damaged walls. With this kind of injury, the patient’s salvation depends on the speed of medical care, more specifically: on the speed of delivery to the operating table. Meanwhile, Diana was transported from the scene of the accident to the hospital for an hour and twenty minutes. That's how long it took the ambulance to cover just three miles separating the hospital from the tunnel under the Alma Bridge. The ambulance doctors explained this by saying that they had to stop twice on the way (the second time, essentially on the threshold of the hospital, three hundred yards away) due to extremely low pressure the victim. The slowness of transporting the princess was so shocking that by two o'clock in the morning, when Diana had still not been taken to the hospital, the head of the capital's police and the French Minister of the Interior began to express concern.
A French doctor who happened to be at the scene of the accident and saw Diana still not rescued from the wreckage of the crashed car said in a recent interview on British television that the princess, who showed no outward signs of fatal injuries, did not give the impression of being a victim whose condition was considered critical. . And so the news that Diana died a few hours later came as a complete surprise to the doctor.
Disappearing Witness
Mystery two: the missing witness. Studies of twenty-seven volumes of the investigative file showed that practically none of the witnesses saw the accident itself, because at that moment they were either at the entrance to the tunnel or at the exit from it. There was only one person driving directly behind the Mercedes. His name is Eric Petal. It was he who was the first to arrive at the crashed car and the first to see the injured passenger with her head buried in front seat, with drops of blood oozing from the ear and nose. Petel turned her back and with horror recognized Princess Diana in the wounded woman. It was Petel who first called an ambulance, after which he rushed to the nearest police station - shaking, shocked by what he saw in the tunnel, shouting “do something!” However, the police did not register the witness’s statement: instead, they handcuffed Petel and, pushing him into a police car, took him to the police department. In this establishment, a certain high-ranking official, whose name Eric Petel does not want to name, advised him “not to declare himself,” which, according to Petel, sounded less like advice than like a threat. Police told Petel that the accident "could not have happened the way he described it."
How exactly? Namely: in the complete absence of paparazzi near the racing Mercedes. The same paparazzi, seven of whom were arrested after the incident on charges of provoking the accident by their pursuit. The paparazzi did not see Petel near the crashed car, which probably confused the initial version of the police. Thirty-six hours after the accident, the police “did not see” them either: the poor photographers were released, and the widely publicized version of their guilt was abruptly changed to another record. This time, the driver Henri Paul, drunk as much as his handcar, was named as the culprit.
Are the intelligence services covering their tracks?
Henri Paul, deputy head of security at the Ritz Hotel, has mystery number three in this story. Moreover, the mystery is quite multidimensional. According to a former British intelligence officer
MI6 Richard Tomlinson, Henri Paul was a long-time MI6 agent, supplying them with information about what was happening at the hotel. However, the intelligence connections of the person who was driving the Mercedes that fateful night, as well as another witness to this incident, were never properly investigated or made public.
“Why?” - British journalists ask. Is it because big politics interfered with the investigation? The investigation's conclusion that the driver was drunk also looks like a white thread. In the blood of Henri Paul, according to the conclusion of the examination, 1.74 grams of alcohol (three times the limit allowed in France) and 20.7% carbon monoxide were found. Such a powerful saturation of the blood with carbon monoxide, according to experts, makes a person’s behavior obviously inadequate - with loss of coordination of movements, confused speech and continuous vomiting. Nothing similar was seen behind Henri Paul before he got behind the wheel. He spent the last two hours before leaving with Diana's bodyguard Trevor Rhys-Jones. Rhys-Jones, who survived the accident, does not confirm that Henri Paul was intoxicated. Meanwhile, if he had even the slightest suspicion about this, the guard responsible for the princess’s safety would have immediately removed the driver from driving. Footage captured by a video camera at the Ritz Hotel half an hour before the Mercedes left clearly shows how, having sat down to tie his shoelace, Henri Paul stood up sportily and walked with the firm gait of an absolutely sober man.
The request for an independent pathological examination, which the family of Henri Paul addressed to the French side, was rejected without providing any grounds. Meanwhile, four leading European pathologists, who examined the conclusion of their French colleagues at the instigation of al-Fayed, found 28 serious errors in it, which, in their opinion, cast doubt on the entire conclusion as a whole. What could be the reason for the errors? Perhaps the tests of the deceased driver were mixed up with the tests of one of those twenty-two deceased whose bodies were in the morgue at the same time as his?
Driven by a driver in a state of “extreme intoxication” (according to the original version, due to the need to break away from the brazen pursuit of the paparazzi), the Mercedes taking Diana away was racing at a breakneck speed of 121 miles (192 km) per hour. It was this conclusion that became public opinion.
However (mystery number four!) the final conclusion contained in the case states that the car was traveling at a speed of... 65 miles per hour. This figure, however, was not made public.
It is known that at the entrance to the Alma tunnel there are cameras that monitor the speed of passing cars. If the speed limit exceeds 60 mph, the camera takes a photograph of the offending vehicle to provide the driver with grounds for a fine. In such photographs, the faces of those sitting in the car are clearly visible.
Why didn't the Mercedes with the princess get caught on camera? An official comment to the press made in the first days after the accident stated that the cameras above the tunnel were not working at that time. However, French photographer Patrick Chauvel, who conducted his own investigation, obtained this “non-existent” photo.
It was given to the photographer by one of the traffic police officers investigating the accident with the Mercedes. This photo clearly shows the faces of all passengers, including Diana.
Riddle number five: why was the report of the transport police working at the scene of the accident not included in the official conclusion of the investigation? Perhaps this is the same reason why the scene itself was thoroughly washed by cleaning machines that same night before dawn? Was the tunnel itself open to traffic at seven o’clock in the morning?
“What did such an urgent cleaning in the tunnel mean?” British researchers ask. “Was this an attempt to “wash away” traces of evidence?”
Where did Dodi's things go?
Another mystery: where did Dodi’s personal belongings disappear? After the accident, no documents or documents were found on him. mobile phone, no cigarettes, no lighter. Only one thousand francs. But, as one of the high-ranking French police officers confirmed, drugs were found inside the Mercedes... Another incomprehensible circumstance: in one of the 27 volumes of the case, a photograph of the Mercedes was found, in which all its passengers are visible. The photo is believed to have been taken literally just before the accident, in the tunnel. Made by someone driving ahead of the Mercedes. By whom?
And finally, the well-known mystery: the never-discovered white Fiat Uno, a former for a long time suspected by French investigators. The same Fiat that supposedly could have caused the accident in the tunnel. Intensely sought by French police in the Paris area, this Fiat never surfaced. But the detectives of Mohammed al-Fayed managed to find the car, which was probably the same “UNO”. The car they found was broken and then replaced taillight and belonged to the paparazzi. And not just paparazzi, but a very noticeable and, above all, mysterious person. This person's name is James Andanson. A person with political connections top level, who was at one time the official photographer of one of the French prime ministers and, like Henri Paul, was an MI6 informant. The French secret police have information that Andanson was in the Alma tunnel that fateful night and photographed the crashed Mercedes.
A high-ranking officer of the French secret police, whose identity Channel 5 does not disclose, suggests in a conversation with British television journalists that Andanson most likely did not work alone, that he was probably manipulated by the special services, for which the French photographer could supply incriminating evidence on those of interest intelligence of VIPs.
However, this is just a hypothesis, there is no evidence for this. And probably won’t be: in June 2000, James Andanson committed suicide under very mysterious circumstances - he set himself on fire in own car without leaving a suicide note. This whole detective twisted squabble with the photographer Andanson was also not reflected in the investigation into Diana’s death.
The bodyguard doesn't remember anything
And finally, the last thing. Diana’s bodyguard who survived the accident, who suffered from post-traumatic amnesia for many months, did not bring fundamental clarity to the investigation: despite the painstaking work of psychiatrists with the former soldier seriously injured in the accident, the memory of what happened on that terrible night was triggered in Rhys-Jones only in fragmentary flashes. So, he remembered that after the car hit the concrete pylon, he and Diana were conscious. In his interview with the British Mirror, Rhys-Jones said that he remembers how rear seat first moans were heard, and then a voice calling Dodi. He remembers paparazzi following them after leaving the hotel. But he doesn’t really remember anything anymore...
Will this detective story have a sequel? To say anything definite would be clearly reckless. In August of this year, the British royal coroner promised to name the date for the start of his own investigation. However, very soon a denial followed, motivated by the fact that it was still premature to undertake such an investigation. And if so, then for those for whom the conclusions of the French investigation do not seem convincing enough, the real causes of the disaster in the Alma tunnel continue to remain a mystery.
Twenty years ago, Princess Diana died. Today, millions of people remember her as the queen of hearts and a style icon. But talk about possible reasons death of Diana. A few years ago, Scotland Yard published the results of its investigation into the tragedy. The driver of the car in which the princess was traveling was drunk and lost control; the passengers were not wearing seat belts. Many people do not agree with the official version.
A CCTV camera installed in the elevator of the Ritz Hotel captured Diana and her lover Dodi al-Fayed on the day of the tragedy. This is the last footage of them alive. The paparazzi knew that Lady Di was staying at the Ritz, and were on duty at the hotel doors. They also knew that the couple was planning to go to Dodi al-Fayed's Paris apartment, located near the Arc de Triomphe. And it was at this moment that Diana personally decided to leave the hotel not through the main entrance on Place Vendôme.
From this moment on, a whole round of oddities and inconsistencies begins, which for 20 years have been preventing us from understanding the causes and consequences of that fateful trip. Initially, Ken Wingfield, Dodi al-Fayed's personal bodyguard, was supposed to drive the car, but for unknown reasons he remains at the Ritz hotel, and the car was driven by Henri Paul, the head of security at the hotel where the lovers spent the last evening of their lives together. In addition to Diana and al-Fayed, Trevor Rees Jones, Diana's personal security guard, was driving the Mercedes.
Across Rue Cambon and Place de la Concorde, the car sped through the streets. Paparazzi circled right, left, behind and in front. At the entrance to the Alma tunnel, Henri Paul, who was driving a car at a speed of 160 kilometers per hour, suddenly saw a parked car, made a maneuver, lost control and crashed into the 13th column of the tunnel. Footage of the mangled Mercedes, filmed at the scene of the tragedy, spread all over the world.
The driver Henri Paul, whose blood alcohol level, as it turned out later, exceeded the legal limit by 3 times, and Dodi al-Fayed died on the spot. The princess was taken to a military hospital, where a few hours later she died without regaining consciousness. Security guard Trevor Rees-Jones, who received numerous injuries, survived and underwent several complex operations, but even during interrogation several years later he was unable to give any evidence. He lost his memory.
For 20 years now, the main debate among all interested parties has been: was it really an accident or was the Princess of Wales murdered? All these years, interrogations, investigative experiments, trials were going on, endless testimony was collected, interviews and memoirs were published. For Ken Wharf, one of Diana's bodyguards, what happened in the Alma tunnel was murder.
The driver, Henri Paul, had already been named an MI6 agent and was considered the culprit of the tragedy, until it turned out that the French police simply mixed up the test tubes with blood. Now it is not at all obvious that the Mercedes driver was drunk. How did I find out? NTV columnist Vadim Glusker, a white Fiat Punto, which at the time of the tragedy was in the Alma tunnel and forced Henri Paul to make a fatal maneuver, disappeared after the tragedy. He was never seen or looked for again. Mohamed Al Fayed, the father of the deceased Dodi al Fayed, has been conducting his own investigation all these years and is also convinced that this is a political murder.
Mohammed al-Fayed, father of Dodi al-Fayed: “I believe that justice will prevail. After all, the jurors who will have to reach a verdict in this case are ordinary people. I am sure that Princess Diana and my son were killed. And the royal family is behind it.”
Mohammed al-Fayed calls the royal family's attitude towards his son Dodi racist and bigoted. According to him, they did not even want to imagine that a native of Egypt, and a Muslim, could become a kind of stepfather for the heirs to the throne, not to mention the fact that the princes could have an adopted brother or sister. It is Diana’s possible pregnancy that is called another reason for her death. The Windsors supposedly could not allow this to happen and brought the intelligence services into the case.
But all these conspiracy theories remained theories. As a result, only the paparazzi were brought to trial, who not only did not provide any help to Diana, but also took their terrible shots after the tragedy and later sold them for millions of dollars.
The monument, symbolizing Franco-American friendship, appeared in Paris in 1987. The torch is an exact replica of the one that adorns the Statue of Liberty in New York. He has nothing to do with Diana. Coincidence of circumstances: the monument stood on the Alma Bridge, the disaster happened in the tunnel.
All these 20 years, the authorities of Paris promised to erect a monument to Lady Di or perpetuate her memory in the form of a memorial plaque, then they decided to name one of the squares after her. As a result, the torch remains the only memorial reminiscent of the Princess of Wales in Paris.
On August 31, 1997, at about half past midnight, the car carrying Princess Diana with her friend Dodi al-Fayed, driver Henri Paul and bodyguard Trevor Rhys-Jones crashed into one of the supports in the Alma tunnel. Dodi al-Fayed and Henri Paul died on the spot, while Princess Diana died several hours later in hospital.
Many believe that the paparazzi who followed her car that fateful night were to blame for Diana’s death. However, according to the court's determination, absolutely nothing depended on the photographers in this tragic incident. They just rode behind on motor scooters. But behind the wheel of the limousine was an unprofessional and drunk driver - the deputy chief of security. An autopsy showed alcohol levels in his blood three times higher than normal.
The reckless driver drove the car along the Seine embankment at a very high speed - more than 180 kilometers per hour, and none of the passengers were wearing seat belts. Despite the fact that they were all driving in one of the safest cars in the world at that time - a Mercedes S280, no one had a chance to escape. Princess Diana's heart stopped on August 31 at 4 am, 3 and a half hours after the accident. Ten years later, in 2007, Scotland Yard experts put an end to this story when all the conclusions of French justice were confirmed. Despite this, many still build the most incredible versions of what happened to this day.
There are no major events planned in the UK to mark the anniversary of the princess's death. In Northamptonshire, on the family estate of Althorp, near the princess's grave on a secluded island in the middle of the lake, a funeral ceremony will take place, but only close relatives will participate in it. It is not yet known whether her former husband will visit Diana’s grave. According to British media, he received the invitation, but has not yet responded to it.
Every year on August 31, people remember Princess Diana, who died on that day in a car accident. 2012 marked 15 years since her death. During her lifetime, Diana was called the “people's princess.” After her tragic death, her popularity did not decrease.
Lady Di left young - she was only 36. For a still unknown reason, the car in which she was racing Paris tunnel, crashed into a support. Neither the princess nor her lover Dodi Al-Fayed escaped.
But the memory of Diana lives on to this day. After all, the Princess of Wales has truly become the “queen of hearts.” She was charming and elegant, did a lot of charity work: she helped the homeless and sick, supported various foundations, and personally participated in the destinies of people.
On August 31, 2012, several hundred British people and guests of London gathered at the former capital residence of the Princess of Wales, Kensington Palace. They honored the memory of the nation's favorite, brought flowers and cards to the Golden Gate, and lit candles.
A modest funeral ceremony was also held in the Spencer family estate. There, in Northamptonshire, on the Elthrop estate, which is located on a small island, Diana is buried. Only those closest to her came to remember her.
Particularly devoted fans of Miss Spencer gathered at the Diana Cafe in London, which is located in the Baysouther area. Lady Di herself visited this establishment. It is believed that the owner named the cafe after her after he saw the princess walking past with her sons, seeing Harry and William off to school. Then Diana allegedly noticed the sign and began to enter the cafe.
But the royal family did not hold any solemn mourning events on the occasion of the 15th anniversary of Diana’s death. This fact gave the British a reason to reproach the dynasty for wanting to quickly forget about the princess, whom the monarchs did not particularly favor during her lifetime.
However, at the end of August an exhibition dedicated to Lady Di opened at the palace. The exhibition includes many elegant outfits of Diana, which she sported in the 80-90s of the 20th century. In addition, the English media write that Diana's son, Prince William, and his wife Kate will participate in a symbolic ceremony in September. It will take place in Singapore, at the Botanical Garden. There in honor dead princess will be called an orchid.
On August 31, 1997, Great Britain lost its favorite, Lady Diana Spencer. For my short life she managed to become for her country a symbol of female wisdom and modesty, surprisingly combined with an iron will and grip.
When Britain's Prince Charles married a modest kindergarten teacher in 1981, no one could have imagined the storm that would soon erupt at Buckingham Palace. Born Diana Spencer, she could not fit into the conservative morals of the royal family. Her pursuit of universal values forced the British to look differently at both the royal dynasty and their own lives.
In 1982 and 1984, respectively, Diana gave birth to two heirs to the throne - Princes Harry and William, after which she became actively involved in charity work. Gradually, the marriage of Lady Di, as the British dubbed her, and Prince Charles was falling apart, fortunately, the latter was hurt by the public love of the people for his wife. In 1996, the couple divorced, and most of the British fully supported Diana in this decision. After the divorce, Lady Di became even more involved in charity work.
In the summer of 1997, Diana was seen in the company of businessman Dodi Al-Fayed, this gave rise to a number of publications in the British media, which predicted him to be the husband of the mother of the heirs to the throne. But things turned out differently - on August 31 of the same year, Diana and Dodi died in Paris as a result of a car accident. The British perceived the death of their favorite as a huge loss, and for several days life throughout Britain came to a standstill.
Every year, on the day of Lady Di's death, services are held in all churches in Great Britain, and in 2007, Princes William and Harry held a charity concert in memory of Diana. In 2012, it was decided to stage and screen a film dedicated to the last months of the princess’s life. The role of Diana in the film will be played by Naomi Watts, known for such films as “Mulholland Drive”, “The Ring”, etc. It was originally planned to present the film on August 31, 2012, but due to problems that arose, the premiere was postponed to mid-December.
Prince William and his wife Kate Middleton intend to continue her legacy on the fifteenth anniversary of Diana's death. In September 1997, the princess was planning to go on a charity trip to the Far East. In Singapore, a new variety of orchids was bred especially for Lady Di's visit and named after her. Now her son and his wife will be able to admire these flowers, in honor of whose arrival a new type of orchid will also be bred. In addition to Singapore, the royal couple will visit Malaysia and the Commonwealth Islands.
Diana, Princess of Wales, née Lady Diana Frances Spencer was born on July 1, 1961 in Sandringham, Norfolk.
She was born into the famous, well-born family of Johnny Spencer and Frances Ruth Burke Roche. Diana's family was very glorious on both sides. Father is Viscount Althorp, a branch of the same Spencer-Churchill family as the Duke of Marlborough and Winston Churchill. Her paternal ancestors were of royal blood through the illegitimate sons of King Charles II and the illegitimate daughter of his brother and successor, King James II. The Earls Spencer have long lived in the very center of London, in Spencer House. “This ancient and noble blood happily combined pride and honor, mercy and dignity, a sense of duty and the need to follow one’s own path. Always and everywhere. To have in the chest a small heart and the spirit of a king, intertwining in it tightly, inextricably: femininity and lion’s courage, wisdom and composure..." - this is what the biographer wrote about them.
But despite all the innate nobility of the Viscount and Viscountess Althorp, their marriage cracked, and they were unable to save the family - even the birth of the desired heir to the earldom, Diana’s younger brother, Charles Spencer, did not save the situation. By the time Charles turned five (Diana was then just over six years old), their mother could no longer live with her father, and the Spencers performed a shameful and rare “procedure” at that time - they divorced. Her mother moved to London and began a whirlwind romance with American businessman Peter Shand-Kyd, who left his family and three children for her sake. In 1969 they got married. 
1963 Two-year-old Diana relaxes in a chair in her home. 
1964 Three-year-old Diana walks around her house with a stroller. 
1965
Diana spent her childhood in Sandringham, where she received her primary education at home. Her teacher was governess Gertrude Allen, who also taught Diana's mother. Lady Diana, already an adult, recalled with bitterness that her mother did not really care about the care of her children. The princess said: “The parents were busy settling scores. I often saw my mother crying, and my dad didn’t even try to explain anything to us. We didn't dare ask questions. Nannies replaced one another. Everything seemed so unsteady..."
Later, relatives would say that parting with her mother was a huge stress for Diana. But the little girl withstood this situation with truly royal calm and childish fortitude, moreover, it was she who most helped her little brother recover from this blow.
1967 Diana plays with her younger brother Charles outside their home.
Viscount Spencer tried to mitigate the consequences of the loss as much as possible and possible ways entertained depressed, confused, and shocked children: he organized children's parties and balls, invited dancing and singing teachers, and personally selected the best nannies and servants. But this still did not completely save the kids from mental trauma.
1970 A little athlete on holiday in Itchenor, West Sussex. 
1970 Diana with her sisters, father and brother.
After the parents divorce, the children remain to live with their father. Soon a stepmother appeared in the house, who disliked the children. Diana began to do worse at school and ultimately did not graduate. The only activity she loved was dancing. Diana's education continued in Sealfield, at a private school near King's Line, then at Riddlesworth Hall preparatory school. At the age of twelve she was accepted into the exclusive girls' school at West Hill, in Sevenoaks, Kent. 
She became "Lady Diana" (a courtesy title for daughters of high peers) in 1975, after the death of her grandfather, when her father inherited the earldom and became the 8th Earl Spencer. During this period, the family moved to the ancient ancestral castle of Althorp House in Notthrogtonshire.
After graduating from youth school in West Heth, Diana lived in Switzerland. Her father sent her to learn how to conduct household, cooking, sewing, as well as French and other skills of a well-bred girl. Dee, apparently, did not like the learning process very much, she was exhausted from boredom, besides, she did not like French and wanted to become independent as quickly as possible.
Diana in Scotland.
In the winter of 1977, shortly before leaving to study in Switzerland, sixteen-year-old Lady Diana meets Prince Charles for the first time when he comes to Althorp on a hunting trip. At that time, the impeccably brought up, intelligent Charles seemed to the girl only “very funny.”
Since Diana sought independence, Charles Spencer Sr. provided her with this opportunity. When she came of age, her father gave the future princess an apartment in London. Diana did not show any aristocratic stiffness and willingly and confidently began her independent adult life. She worked part-time as a teacher at kindergarten and babysat the children at home. Interestingly, the hourly rate of the future princess was only one pound.
Diana as a nanny, a year before she marries Prince Charles.
At this time, the heir to the English throne was courting Diana's older sister, Sarah Spencer. Diana simply idolized Lady Sarah Spencer - charming, witty, proud, although a little harsh in her manners and behavior. Therefore, she was glad to see how the relationship between the eldest of the Spurser sisters and such an enviable groom was developing. Charles at that time was passionate about his studies, reserved, and cold, but his high status aroused an exaggerated interest in girls. Among the contenders for the prince's heart was even the granddaughter of the legendary Prime Minister Winston Churchill, Lady Charlotte. And yet, he clearly singled out the Spencer house for himself.
The cheerful Diana, who knew why the future king of Great Britain was visiting their house, smiled joyfully at her guest during meetings and muttered something embarrassed in French - she really loved her sister and wished her happiness. Having showered Sarah with attention, Charles was also very kind to Diana; he liked the girl, but nothing special came of it. In November 1979, Diana was invited to the royal hunt. She was to spend the weekend at Earl Spencer's estate with her family and Prince Charles. Athletic, graceful, Diana rode her horse like an Amazon, and during the fox hunt, despite her simple outfit and modest behavior, she was irresistible.
It was then that the Prince of Wales first realized that Diana was an incredibly “charming, lively and witty girl who was interesting to be with.” Sarah Spencer later said that she played “the role of Cupid” at this meeting. Charles spoke for a long time with Dee for the first time and could not help but admit that she was simply lovely. However, at that moment that was all over. 
In the summer, in July 1980, Diana learned that Prince Charles had suffered a great misfortune: his uncle, Lord Mountbatten, whom the prince considered one of his closest people, his best adviser and confidant, had died. As Diana later recalled, “I saw the prince sitting alone in a haystack, thoughtful; she turned off the path, sat down next to him and simply said that she saw him in the church at the funeral service. He seemed so lost, with an incredibly sad look... This is unfair,” I thought then, “He is so lonely, someone should be there at this moment!” That evening, Charles openly and publicly showered Lady Diana Francis with the attentions befitting a prince's chosen one. Sarah Spencer was completely forgotten. 
At the time Charles “found” Diana, the prince was 33 years old. He was the most eligible bachelor in Great Britain and was considered an incredible womanizer, a conqueror of girls, although this title should rather be attributed to his title. In particular, since 1972, Charles had an affair with Camilla Parker-Bowles, the wife of army officer Andrew Parker-Bowles, by the way, a good “friend” of some members of the royal family. However, Camilla was in no way suitable for the role of the future queen, and Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip racked their brains a lot about how to “slip” a better candidate for their son. But then Diana appeared and, in general, saved the situation. They say that Prince Philip himself proposed that Charles marry Diana. She was well-born, young, healthy, beautiful and well-mannered. What else is needed for a good royal marriage?
In the fall of 1980, rumors first circulated about her affair with the Prince of Wales. It all started when a reporter specializing in covering the private life of the royal family photographed Prince Charles walking along the shallows of the River Dee at Balmoral in the company of a young, shy girl. The attention of the world press instantly turned to this unknown person, whom everyone would soon begin to call nothing more than “timid Dee.” Diana suddenly felt that she was plunging into a new life that was completely unfamiliar to her before. From now on, as soon as she left the apartment, numerous cameras began to click around her. And even the little red car was always followed by paparazzi wherever she went. 
Prince Charles formally proposed to Lady Diana on February 6, 1981, after returning from a three-month naval cruise on the ship Invincible, which he was supposed to oversee as the future king. The couple met for a romantic candlelit dinner at Buckingham Palace. After dinner, Charles finally asked the girl the most important question, and Diana gave the most important answer.
Future princess under an umbrella, 1981.
Soon all rumors and speculation were put to an end. On February 24, the engagement of the Prince of Wales and Lady Diana Spencer was officially announced. The wedding was scheduled for July 29 and was to take place at St. Paul's Cathedral. The whole of Great Britain was excited by the news: it lifted the spirit of the nation during a period of rather gloomy economic recession. Apparently, the timing for the wedding was very opportune.
Romantic moments from the life of Prince Charles and Princess Diana.
Meanwhile, across the UK, preparations for the “wedding of the century” were in full swing.
It was Diana's idea to sew a romantic wedding dress in the Victorian style, chastely closed, with lots of frills and flounces. She entrusts such a responsible task to little-known designers David and Elizabeth Emmanuel and does not lose. The dress becomes legendary. 
On July 29, 1981, young Diana Spencer, in a chic wedding dress with an almost eight-meter white silk train, walked to the altar of St. Cathedral. Paul to become one of the members of the British royal family. Seven hundred and fifty million viewers around the world were glued to their television screens as one of the most beautiful women in Europe married one of the richest grooms in Europe. As the Archbishop of Canterbury put it in his speech, “It is in such magical moments that fairy tales are born.” This day, as journalists rightly noted, began a new page in the history of the Windsor family and the whole of Great Britain. 
The wedding was fabulous. And not only because it was the most expensive event of its kind (costs were estimated at 2,859 million pounds sterling). It’s just that the groom is a real prince, and the bride is fabulously beautiful and charming. 
Now they will take oaths of allegiance to each other. Moreover, Diana, who had barely turned 20, without flinching, contrary to tradition, crossed out the promise to obey her husband from the text of her oath. Therefore, later journalists will call their marriage “Marriage of equals” 
After the wedding, the girlfriends received a souvenir from Diana. For each, a rose from the bride's luxurious bouquet was prepared in plastic.
Honeymoon in Scotland at Balmoral on the River Dee.
The first official trip of Prince Charles and his young wife around the country began with their titular possessions - Wales. In just three days, the prince and princess held eighteen meetings! On the first day, their route included Caernarfon Castle, where Prince Charles, twelve years ago, was solemnly given the title Prince of Wales. On the third day of her trip to Wales, Diana received the title of "Freedom of the City of Cardiff". In gratitude for the honor, she made her first public speech, part of which was in the Welsh dialect.
Diana said that she was proud to be the princess of such a wonderful country. Diana later admitted what fear and embarrassment she felt before this visit and her first public appearance, but it was this trip that became Diana’s real triumph and served as a springboard of sorts into the future. 
Princess Diana dozed off at an event at the Albert and Victoria Museum in 1981. The next day, her pregnancy was officially announced. 
On July 21, 1982, at half past five in the morning, Prince William of Wales was born at St. Mary's Hospital in Padington. 
Diana and Charles with their son Prince William. The child was baptized on August 4 and given the name Arthur Philip Louis.
In February 1984, Buckingham Palace officially announced that the prince and princess were expecting their second child. The boy, who was born on September 15, 1984, was named Henry Charles Albert David. He will henceforth be known as Prince Harry. 
Understanding the inevitability of intrusive press attention that the young princes would experience in the future, Charles and Diana decided to protect them from this as much as possible. The parents succeeded in this.
When it came to the primary education of her sons, Diana opposed William and Harry being raised in the closed world of the royal house and they began to attend preschool classes and regular school. On vacation, Diana allowed her boys to wear jeans, sweatpants and T-shirts. They ate hamburgers and popcorn, went to the movies and attractions, where the princes stood in a general line among their peers. She later introduced William and Harry to her charity work and often took the children with her when she went to meet hospital patients or the homeless. 
Diana was actively involved in charitable and peacekeeping activities. During her public appearances, Diana, whenever possible, stopped to talk to people and listen to them. She could talk completely freely with representatives of different social strata, parties, and religious movements. With an unerring instinct, she always noticed those who most needed her attention. 
Diana used this gift, as well as her growing importance as a global figure, in her charitable work. It was this aspect of her life that gradually became her true calling. Diana personally participated in the transfer of donations - to the AIDS Foundation, the Royal Mardsen Foundation, the Leprosy Mission, the Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, Centropoint, and the English National Ballet. Her latest mission was to rid the world of landmines. Diana traveled to many countries, from Angola to Bosnia, to see firsthand the monstrous consequences of the use of this terrible weapon. 
In the early 90s, a blank wall of misunderstanding grew between the most famous spouses in the world. In 1992, the tension in their relationship reached its climax, Diana began to suffer from depression and bouts of bulimia (painful hunger). Soon, Prime Minister John Major announced the decision of the Prince and Princess of Wales to separate and lead separate lives. There was no talk of divorce at that time, but the following year the first of those sensational interviews that shocked the British took place - then Prince Charles admitted to host Jonathan Dimbleby that he had been unfaithful to Diana.
In December 1995, Diana appeared on the BBC's Panorama, a popular show watched by several million viewers. She said that Camilla Parker-Bowles appeared in the prince’s life even before their marriage, and continued to be “invisibly present” (or even quite visibly!) throughout it. “There were always three of us in that marriage,” Diana said. - It's too much". The marriage of Charles and Diana ended in divorce on August 28, 1996, at the initiative of Queen Elizabeth II.
Despite this, interest in Diana did not decrease at all; on the contrary, the public showed more and more attention to the proud Lady Di. Reporters continued to seek insight into the princess's personal life, especially after her romantic relationship with Dodi Al-Fayed, the forty-one-year-old son of Arab millionaire Mohammed Al-Fayed, the owner of fashionable hotels, became public in the summer of 1997. In July, they spent the holidays in Saint-Tropez with Diana's sons, Princes William and Harry. The boys got along well with the friendly owner of the house. 
Later, Diana and Dodi met in London, and then went on a cruise in the Mediterranean Sea on board the luxurious yacht Jonical. 
Towards the end of August the Jonical approached Portofino in Italy and then sailed for Sardinia. On August 30, Saturday, the couple in love went to Paris. The next day Diana was due to fly to London to meet her sons on the last day of their summer holidays.
On Saturday evening, Diana and Dodi decided to have dinner at the restaurant of the Ritz Hotel, which Dodi owned. In order not to attract the attention of other visitors, they retired to a separate office, where, as was later reported, they exchanged gifts: Diana gave Dodi cufflinks, and he gave her a diamond ring. At one o'clock in the morning they prepared to go to Dodi's apartment on the Champs-Elysees. Wanting to avoid the paparazzi crowding the front entrance, they left the hotel through the service exit. There they got into a Mercedes S-280, accompanied by bodyguard Trevor-Reese Jones and driver Henri Paul.
Last photo.
The night before the fatal accident, Princess Diana and Dodi al-Fayed were filmed on camera at the Ritz Hotel in Paris on August 31, 1997.
The accident occurred in Paris on August 31, 1997 in a tunnel located near the Pont Alma. The black Mercedes-Benz S280 crashed into a column dividing oncoming lanes, then hit the tunnel wall, flew several meters and stopped. 
The injuries suffered by Princess Diana, Dodi al-Fayed and the bodyguard were fatal. True, Diana managed to be taken alive to the Pite Salpêtrière hospital, but all attempts to save her life were in vain. She was only 36 years old.
While doctors fought for the life of the beloved of millions of Englishmen, criminologists worked to clarify the circumstances of the accident.
The following versions of the reasons for her death gradually emerged:
. the death of the Princess of Wales as a result of a road traffic accident is nothing more than an ordinary car accident, a tragic accident;
Henri Paul, the driver of the Mercedes, is to blame for everything - an examination showed that he was heavily intoxicated while driving;
The car accident was provoked by annoying paparazzi who were literally on the heels of Diana’s car;
The British royal family was involved in the death of the princess, who never forgave Diana for her divorce from Prince Charles;
The car lost control due to a malfunction brake system;
. The Mercedes at high speed collided with another car - a white Fiat, after which Diana's driver was unable to control the car;
The English secret services had a hand in the death of the princess, who intended to disrupt the marriage of the mother of the future British king to a Muslim.
Which version is the most plausible and closest to the truth? French experts were supposed to answer this question.
A commission created at the Institute of Criminal Research of the French Gendarmerie worked out all versions of what happened. As a result, several paparazzi were brought to justice. True, no one took it upon themselves to accuse them of provoking the death of Princess Diana. The charges related mainly to violations of journalistic ethics and failure to provide timely assistance to victims. Indeed, photographers first of all sought to capture the dying Diana and only then tried to do anything to save her. The assumption that the Mercedes brake system was faulty was also not confirmed.
Experts, who carefully examined what was left of the car for several months, came to the conclusion that at the time of the disaster the car’s brakes were in working order. The investigation team also refuted claims that a drunk driver was to blame. Certainly, drunken state Paul Henri played a role in what happened. However, not only (and not so much) this led to tragedy. During the investigation, it turned out that before crashing into the 13th column of the tunnel, Diana’s car collided with a white Fiat Uno. According to the testimony of one of the witnesses, the latter was driven by a brown-haired man in his forties, who fled the scene of the crime. After this collision, the Mercedes lost control, and then what happened was what was already described above.
The French police literally shook up all the owners of white Unos, but they never found the car they needed. In 2004, the results of the investigation by the commission of the Institute of Criminal Research of the French Gendarmerie were transferred to “more competent authorities”, which, apparently, were supposed to decide whether enough facts had been collected and research had been conducted to justifiably close the case. At the same time, the search for the mythical “Fiat” continues. Law enforcement France still hopes that the driver of the mysterious car will show up and provide details of the collision, which became the prologue to the tragic accident. In the Parisian prefecture they even opened a special entrance for him. But so far no one has responded to the police call.
If the collision of the Mercedes with the Fiat really took place, and the mysterious driver exists, then he is unlikely to voluntarily take full responsibility for what happened, as well as the full brunt of the anger of those who still remember Diana and sincerely mourn her death. her. It is unknown when the investigation into the circumstances of the death of the “People’s Princess” will be completed. But whenever this happens, in England, and in many other countries, the life and death of Lady Di will be discussed for a long time. Moreover, regardless of what the final conclusion of the mentioned “competent authorities” will be.
Probability of murder
The father of Diana's lover, billionaire Mohammed al-Fayed, is sure that the British intelligence services were involved in the death of Diana and his son. It was he who insisted on a state investigation into the car accident, which lasted from 2002 to 2008. According to al-Fayed Sr., the driver Henri Paul was sober during the fatal trip. “There are recordings from video cameras of the Ritz Hotel, where Henri Paul’s gait is normal,” he says, “although, in theory, he should have just been crawling. Doctors found a wild amount of an antidepressant in his body. Most likely, this man was poisoned. In addition Moreover, I have documents that he worked for the British intelligence services. Later they found his secret bank accounts into which 200 thousand dollars were transferred. The origin of this money is unclear.”
And Mohammed, contrary to official reports about the results of the study, claims that Diana died while pregnant:
“At first the authorities refused to do the test, and when they did it under pressure, many years passed. During this time, traces can simply be lost. But on the eve of the tragedy, Dodi and Diana visited the villa in Paris that I bought for them. They chose a room there for their child, overlooking the garden.”
Paul Burrell, Diana's former butler, also agrees with the version of a conspiracy against Diana and Dodi with the participation of the intelligence services and the royal court. He has a letter from Lady Di in which she wrote 10 months before her death: “My life is in danger. The ex-husband plans to organize an accident. My car's brakes will fail and there will be a car accident."
“Her death was brilliantly orchestrated,” says Burrell, “in trademark English style. Our intelligence always “removed” people not with the help of poison or a sniper, but in such a way that it looked like an accident.”
A similar opinion is shared by intelligence officers themselves, for example, the notorious former officer of the British counterintelligence service MI6, Richard Tomlison. He was arrested twice for disclosing state secrets in his books about British intelligence, left Britain and now lives in France. Tomlison openly stated that Diana was killed by MI6 agents in a “mirror” “accidental car accident” plan that was prepared for Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic 15 years ago.
The only survivor of the car accident in Paris is Dodie and Diana's bodyguard Trevor Rhys-Jones. He, unlike the driver and passengers, survived because he was wearing a seat belt. The crushed bones in his body are held together with 150 titanium plates, and he has undergone ten surgeries.
Here is his opinion about the situation before the disaster:
“Henri Paul was not drunk that evening. He did not smell of alcohol, he communicated and walked normally. I didn't drink anything at the table. I don’t know where alcohol ended up in his blood after his death. Unfortunately, I cannot explain why I was buckled up in the car, but Diana and Dodi were not. I am brain damaged and suffer from partial memory loss. My memories end at the moment when we left the Ritz Hotel.”
Parting
She flew to Paris to pick up Princess Diana's body ex-husband, Prince Charles. Butler Paul Burrell brought clothes and asked that the rosary given to her by Mother Teresa be placed in the princess's hands.
In London, the oak coffin containing the princess's body stood in the Royal Chapel of St. James's Palace for four nights. People from all over the world gathered at the walls of the palace. They lit candles and laid flowers. 
The farewell ceremony for Princess Diana took place at Westminster Abbey. 
Princess Diana was buried on September 6 at the Spencer family estate of Althorp in Northamptonshire, on a secluded island in the middle of a lake.
Diana was one of the most popular women of her time in the world. In Great Britain, she has always been considered the most popular member of the royal family; she was called the “Queen of Hearts” or the “Queen of Hearts.”
High, high in the heavens, the stars sing her name: “Diana.” 
