Remembering Princess Diana: how the funeral of one of the most famous women in world history went. Why did Princess Diana die?
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A terrible tragedy on August 31, 1997 claimed the life of one of the most famous personalities of the last century - Princess Diana of Wales or Lady Di, as many called her. Her person was admired by millions. Thanks to her many charitable projects, she received the title of People's Princess and becamethird out of a hundred on the list of the greatest Britons. Although more than 20 years have passed since the death of Princess Diana, her memory still lives in the hearts of millions of people. An example of taste and style, a loving mother of two children and simply a great woman - she is once and for all the idea of an aristocratic family.
The Life and Death of Princess Diana
Diana Frances Spencer was born on July 1, 1961 in Sandringham in one of the royal residences; her parents, John Spencer, Viscount Althorp, were carriers of royal blood. Among the ancestors of the young princess there were also such representatives of an aristocratic family as the English Queen Mary Stuart on her mother’s side and the illegitimate sons of King Charles II. Also in her family tree is Prince Vladimir the Great.
Diana spent her childhood at Sandringham, where she was educated at home. When she was 8 years old, her parents divorced. She stayed with her father, along with two sisters and a brother. Soon the father remarried and the children had a stepmother, whom they simply hated and tried to resist her in every possible way.
At 12 years old Diana accepted into a girls' exclusive school in West Hill. She did not have any particular zeal for study or ability, so she was never able to graduate.After studying in Switzerland, 18-year-old Diana returned to London and got a job in kindergarten, where she also worked as a nanny and even a cleaner. In 1977, Diana met Prince Charles, who was 32 years old at the time. The prince's parents, Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, have long been looking for a candidate for their son.
On July 29, 1981, Prince Charles married Diana Frances Spencer at St. Paul's Cathedral. However, the couple's happiness was short-lived, as Diana constantly endured the infidelities of Prince Charles and bullying from her husband's royal family. Diana's incredible popularity only fueled Elizabeth II's dissatisfaction. The only joy of Princess Diana of Wales was her sons William and Harry. As you know, Diana herself admitted that she constantly suffered from depression and even tried to commit suicide twice.
In 1992, the couple mutually decided to separate, and four years later, in 1996, divorce proceedings took place. Having received the long-awaited freedom, Lady Diana managed to retain the title of Princess of Wales and the right to raise children.
The mystery and date of death of Princess Diana. Murder or gross negligence? Versions and assumptions
The death of Princess Diana was a real shock for the entire planet. When did Princess Diana die? This terrible event occurred on August 31, 1997 in Paris. A car in which there were 4 people: Lady Diana, driver Henri Paul, bodyguard Trevor Rees-Johnson and lady's acquaintance Dodi Al-Fayed, trying to escape the pursuit of annoying paparazzi, got out of control and crashed at high speed into a tunnel support in front of the Alma Bridge on the embankment of the Seine. For about another hour, Diana died in the wreckage of twisted metal under the flashes of the cameras of journalists who arrived at the scene of the tragedy. It was not possible to save Lady Di. She died in the hospital two hours later from her injuries.
Was the death of Princess Diana murder or a simple violation of the rules traffic still unknown. According to the official version, the princess's driver was in a state of alcohol intoxication. The dose of alcohol contained in the blood. exceeded the permissible limit several times. The situation was aggravated by the paparazzi who were following the car. There is also another version - it was a well-executed staging of an accident, behind which the British intelligence services stood. For some reason, that night the cameras in the tunnel were not working, and the seat belts in the car were blocked, so all the passengers were driving unfastened.
Indeed, the royal family had reasons to want Princess Diana's death, because at that time she was pregnant with Dodi Al-Fayed's child, whom she was going to marry. Nobody wanted to see a Muslim on the throne. Dodi's father, Egyptian billionaire Mohammed Al-Fayed, having conducted his own investigation, is sure that it was a planned murder and not an accident.
Funeral
Princess Diana died August 31, 1997 at the age of 36. Lady Di's funeral was the largest in the history of mankind. They were watched by 2.5 billion people. They were shown in 200 countries and translated into 44 languages. At the farewell ceremony, singer Elton John performed new version songs “Candle in the Wind”.
On the day of Princess Diana's funeral, mourning was declared throughout the UK. All national flags were omitted. Marriage ceremonies across the country have been cancelled. Where is Princess Diana buried? At Althorp, the Spencer family estate in Northamptonshire. The estate is currently owned by Diana's brother Charles, 9th Earl Spencer.
LONDON, August 31st. /Corr. TASS Igor Brovarnik/. Thursday marks 20 years since the princess died in a car accident. Welsh Diana(1961-1997). As a representative of Buckingham Palace told TASS, members of the British royal family, including its head Queen Elizabeth II, do not plan to take part in any official commemorative events on the occasion of this tragic anniversary.
“No official events related to the anniversary of the princess’s death are planned with the participation of members of the royal family. The royal family will spend this day privately,” Buckingham Palace reported.
However, Diana's sons, Princes William and Harry, paid tribute to their mother on Wednesday at the memorial White Garden near Kensington Palace, which was Diana's official residence until her death. The princes got acquainted with the composition of the garden, consisting of white flowers - tulips, daffodils and hyacinths, as well as palm trees planted around the perimeter of a rectangular pond.
At the same time, fans of the people's princess, this is exactly how Diana remained in the memory of millions of Britons, despite the rainy weather in London, began to bring photographs of her and flowers to the gates of Kensington Palace, as was the case 20 years ago.
Then the people of the United Kingdom spent it in last way as a national hero. More than 1 million people took to the streets of London to watch her funeral cortege, while half the country's population - more than 32 million people - watched the funeral broadcast on television.
Symbol of the era
Diana is rightfully considered one of the symbols of the late 20th century. A philanthropist, philanthropist and style icon, she charmed many people with her warmth, while straightforwardness was always her hallmark.
The princess was an active participant in the fight against AIDS, visiting HIV-infected people in hospitals, convincing the public that people with such a diagnosis should not be outcasts.
Diana was not afraid to shake their hands, although at that time there were many myths about this virus, and she also did not shy away from lepers. She opposed the proliferation of anti-personnel mines, which often harm civilians.
"TASS/Reuters"
The People's Princess managed to visit Russia in June 1995, visiting the Tushino Children's Hospital in Moscow, to which she donated medical equipment. During her visit to the British Embassy in the Russian capital, she was awarded the International Leonardo Prize, which has been awarded to philanthropists and organizers of activities in the humanitarian field since 1992.
Without a doubt, Diana managed to change the old-fashioned appearance of the British monarchy and become the “queen of people’s hearts,” as she is still called in her homeland.
How did the princess die?
Princess Diana was the wife of Prince Charles, heir to the British throne, from 1981 to 1996, but the couple began to live separately in 1992.
Diana died in a car accident on the night of August 31, 1997 in Paris, in a tunnel under the Pont Alma. The driver of the car, Henri Paul, in which the princess was traveling, tried to break away from the paparazzi, and when entering the tunnel at a speed of 105 km/h, he lost control and collided with a column dividing the flow of traffic.
The victims of the tragedy were the princess herself, her lover Dodi al-Fayed and the driver. Only bodyguard Trevor Rhys-Jones survived the car accident. Dodi's father, Egyptian billionaire Mohammed al-Fayed, claimed that the accident was organized by British intelligence services at the direction of the royal family. In 2008, a British court rejected these accusations.
Was it an accident
British security specialist Alan McGregor earlier in an interview with The Sun newspaper suggested that the death of the Princess of Wales could not have been a tragic accident, but a planned murder, the preparation of which could have taken six months.
McGregor, who collaborated with the Saudi intelligence services, was dissatisfied with the security measures at the Ritz Hotel in Paris, where Diana was staying with Dodi al-Fayed shortly before her death. "I saw so many security breaches in that hotel and a number of other strange things, so it was bound to happen sooner or later," he said.
“You could say that all the elements that led to her death were just a tragic coincidence, but part of me believes that the preparation process [of the murder] could have taken six months,” said a British ex-secretary officer.
McGregor wondered why such an important and high-status person as Princess Diana was entrusted to be driven by a chauffeur who worked at the hotel. “It had to be a specially trained driver or a security agent,” he stressed, also pointing out that the Mercedes in which the couple was supposed to leave was driven from a public hotel parking lot in violation of safety precautions.
“Diana often said that she feared for her life, and no one even asked why,” McGregor recalled.
Diana's last words
Former emergency services employee Xavier Gourmelon, who was one of the first to arrive at accident scene, in his first interview with the press, said that Diana was conscious for some time and could speak after the car accident. “We were very close and it took us less than three minutes to get to the accident site,” Gourmelon, 50, recalled.
"She was moving a little and I could see that she was alive. I saw that she had a minor bruise on her right shoulder, but other than that there was nothing significant. There was no blood at all," he said in an interview The Sun.
Gourmelon told what happened after Diana was removed from the mangled Mercedes.
"I held her hand and told her to stay calm and not move. She said: 'Oh my God, what happened?' I gave her some oxygen, me and my team were with her after she was taken out of the car "It happened very quickly because we didn't have to cut the deformed body of the car," he noted.
After some time, 36-year-old Diana stopped breathing. “We are all trained in first aid, I saw that she had a cardiac arrest and she stopped breathing. I gave her a cardiac massage and after a few seconds she was breathing again,” the former rescuer shared his memories.
“To be honest, I thought she would live,” he said. “As far as I know, when Diana was in the ambulance, she was alive, and I hoped that she would live. But later I found out that she died in the hospital".
"I know now that she had serious internal injuries, but the whole episode is still in my head. And the memories of that night will remain with me forever. I had no idea at the time that it was Princess Diana. I found out about it “When they put her in the ambulance, one of the paramedics told me that it was her,” added Gourmelon, who took part as a witness in the investigation into the circumstances of the princess’s death in 2007.
ALL PHOTOS
All this time, doctors at the Parisian Pitie-Salpetriere Hospital, where she was taken, fought for her life, giving her cardiac massage for two hours - Diana’s heart stopped at about 02:10 at night, and she was finally declared dead two hours later
In the UK, at the hearing into the death of Princess Diana of Wales, it was said that she could have survived the car accident if French doctors had not lost precious time. One of the leading British surgeons, Thomas Treasure, listed the five main mistakes of doctors that may have led to Diana’s death, writes The Times.
Recall that Princess Diana and her friend Dodi al-Fayed died in a car accident in Paris on the night of August 31, 1997. After the accident, the Princess of Wales lived for several more hours. All this time, doctors at the Parisian Pitie-Salpetriere Hospital, where she was taken, fought for her life, giving her cardiac massage for two hours - Diana’s heart stopped at about 02:10 a.m., and she was finally declared dead two hours later.
Meanwhile, prominent surgeon Thomas Treasure testified at Monday's hearing that there may have been a chance of the princess being taken to hospital half an hour earlier than actually happened. Professor Trejour, ex-president of the European Association of Cardiothoracic Surgery, said that in the initial stages after the disaster, doctors “provided very valuable assistance in many ways,” but once the princess was in the ambulance, time “began to slip through our fingers.”
The professor, whom coroner Lord Justice Scott Baker asked to review the data on the patient’s treatment and give his assessment, admitted that the combination of injuries to internal organs received by Diana was extremely rare and severe. However, he said, in theory she could have been saved.
In his testimony, the professor touched upon the fact that in France there is a fundamentally different approach to patients with multiple injuries than in the UK: French doctors prefer to provide such patients with care on the spot, while the British practice immediate delivery to the hospital in order to begin treatment there .
The princess was pulled from her Mercedes 35 minutes after the accident on August 31, 1997, the hearing was told. She apparently went into cardiac arrest, so she had to undergo chest compressions and other measures to stabilize her while on the highway; The princess was then placed in an ambulance, where she was put on an IV and a ventilator and examined more thoroughly. (Full text on the website Inopressa.ru.)
At one point, the princess screamed, ripped out her IV and became so restless that she had to be restrained, the hearing was told. Only at 01:40 was her condition considered stable enough to transport the patient to the hospital.
Dr. Jean-Marc Martineau, a specialist in emergency resuscitation, told the ambulance driver to drive slowly so as not to cause further harm to the princess. Not far from the hospital gates, the car had to be stopped for almost five minutes when the patient's blood pressure dropped dangerously and measures had to be taken.
Several leading doctors told the hearing that if the princess had not undergone such intensive care on the road, she would not have survived to arrive at the hospital at all.
The hearing was told that the princess suffered severe internal bleeding due to the rupture of one of the pulmonary arteries connecting to the heart, as well as the tissue lining the heart itself. Already in the hospital at two o'clock in the morning, a few minutes later, an X-ray examination showed that there was severe internal bleeding on the right side of her chest.
The surgeon opened her chest to find the source of the bleeding, but at first he could not detect a ruptured vessel.
From that moment on, the work was led by Professor Alain Pavy, one of the leading French surgeons specializing in cardiothoracic surgery. Pavi was called from home. He widened the incision and discovered that the rupture was not in the right side, where the bleeding was occurring, but in the left. Pavi sewed up the vessel, but despite lengthy attempts to resuscitate the patient (oxygen, cardiac massage, electric shock were used, and large doses of adrenaline were administered), at four o'clock in the morning the doctors capitulated.
Professor Andre Lianart, who reviewed Diana's medical history on behalf of French investigators, testified at yesterday's hearing that there were no cases in the medical literature in which patients with the same set of vascular ruptures were delivered to hospital alive.
Professor Treasure said: "Relatively quickly they provided a lot of valuable help: they stabilized the neck, removed the patient from the car and, although the pulse briefly disappeared, got the heart beating again and returned the blood pressure to normal."
However, speaking about the assistance that was subsequently provided to Diana on the spot and on the way to the hospital, he said: “That’s when time began to slip through our fingers.”
“These are my conclusions,” Trejour continued, “they achieved a lot in the first half hour, but later on, a surgeon was required to make a significant positive contribution.”
Defense lawyer Nicholas Hilliard, attending the hearing, asked: "Do you believe that some of this time, a vital period, was wasted?" Professor Treasure replied: "That is a harsh expression, you will agree. But I do believe that favorable opportunities were missed."
Treasure continued: “From the moment she got to the ambulance, the preliminary diagnosis was made quite accurately, and the condition of the neck and the circulation were stabilized ... I’m not entirely sure what happened after that, why they didn’t take her to the hospital and notified Professor Pavi much faster."
Trejour also questioned the need for large doses of adrenaline, which were injected into the princess in the hospital. “They have run out of adrenaline ampoules. It’s just amazing,” he noted. “You can’t blame them for lack of persistence, but it’s by no means a fact that this persistence was constructive.”
Professor Trejour, who has an article coming out this week about the best ways medical care for patients with multiple injuries, also challenged the decision to stop a little before reaching the hospital in order to stabilize the princess’s condition when her blood pressure dropped.
The hearings are ongoing.
Let us remind you that the hearings, which began in January 2004, were postponed for a while and resumed on October 2 at the Royal Court of London under the chairmanship of Judge Scott Baker and are expected to last several months. The verdict will be made by a jury of 11 jurors selected by the court.
Five mistakes made by Parisian doctors
Professor Trejour suggested that:
1. Perhaps on the way it was possible to do without a breathing tube;
2. Perhaps we should not have stopped a little before reaching the hospital - it was better to increase the speed; the princess could have survived if she had been taken to the hospital faster;
3. A team of specialists should be kept ready in advance;
4. The chances of saving the patient would have been greater if the surgeon had opened her chest in the frontal part, and not from the side;
5. The amount of adrenaline she was given during surgery may have had a negative effect rather than a positive one.
Princess Diana through the lens of Annie Leibovitz“This is not an accident,” Mohammed Al-Fayed publicly declared after learning of the death of his son Dodi and his beloved Princess Diana, “It was all a set-up. And it was murder." The words of a parent crushed by grief could be attributed to a state of passion, but from August 31, 1997, the Egyptian billionaire stubbornly stood his ground for almost fifteen years. After all, he had facts on his side - strange, inconvenient for the official investigation, confusing the entire chain of events of that night and for some reason not taken into account by anyone.
Officially, Diana was investigated twice - in France (in 1999) and in the UK (in 2008). Both of them came to disappointing and rather superficial conclusions. They can be summarized as follows: the tragedy occurred due to the extremely careless driving of Henri Paul (the driver of the Mercedes), in whose blood alcohol was found, due to faulty seat belts, as well as due to the irresponsible behavior of the paparazzi, because of which Monsieur Paul had to exceed the speed limit.
Meanwhile, more than 20 years later, enough data has accumulated, as well as various hypotheses, confirming that the scenario of the accident in the Alma Bridge tunnel could not be at all what French and British investigators presented it as. All of them are intended to prove that Diana’s death was not accidental and lies on the conscience of the highest British circles (including the royal family). Lady Di knew too much and behaved too irresponsibly.
The number of such theories has long exceeded a hundred, but we have selected the most interesting of them - from those that have a right to exist to those that are absolutely fantastic. And at the same time they told how they were “fended off” by the official investigation.
Henri Paul was not drunk and was on an MI6 mission that night
Typically, the first person to come under the microscope during an accident investigation is the driver. This happened that time too. Henri died on the spot, and when the French investigation announced that the level of alcohol in the blood of the princess's driver was three times higher than the norm, the conclusion seemed so implausible to everyone that many immediately began to guess what was really behind this statement.
Indeed, could Diana, her bodyguard Trevor Rhys-Jones and Dodi Al-Fayed actually put themselves at risk and get into a car driven by a man who, according to British investigators, had drunk at least 5 glasses of Ricard aperitif?
Thus, thoughts arose that Henri did not actually consume alcohol that night, and the official version was fabricated only to hide the fact that he served in MI6. They say that British intelligence instructed him to set up an accident and thus kill the princess and her lover, and since Henri himself could not escape, the investigation came up with a story that he was drunk.
Meanwhile, an investigation by the London Metropolitan Police did not reveal any evidence that Henri Paul actually worked for British special agents. The fact of a single bribe of a Frenchman was also excluded, because the chances of surviving such an accident for an unprepared person are zero. Moreover, the Metropolitan Police established that that night Henri Paul had no idea that he would have a night shift with Diana and Dodi. His work day ended at 7 pm, and only a couple of hours later he received a call from the Ritz hotel service with instructions to take high-ranking clients to a restaurant.
By the way, Dodi Al-Fayed changed the restaurant at the very last moment (since the previous one was already crowded with paparazzi). Accordingly, the route changed. So it was certainly impossible for the driver to plan a competent operation to eliminate the princess that night - there was too little data.
As for the alcohol in the blood, several more tests later confirmed that Monsieur Paul had indeed drunk more than the legal limit that night, which, in principle, is quite consistent with the fact that his shift came to an end long before his called for overtime work. Meanwhile, the question of why no one from the Ritz service or Mercedes passengers smelled the smell of alcohol from the driver and trusted him to drive the princess remains open.
By the way, Diana’s bodyguard Trevor Rees-Jones was also accused of working for MI6, but he survived, but did not remember any details due to a traumatic brain injury. According to the version presented by former British intelligence officer Richard Tomlinson, his physical fitness fully allowed him to survive the accident, and the “fabricated” amnesia served as an excellent tool for not counting on him as a witness.
Diana was killed by the royal family because she was pregnant by a Muslim.
This version is also defended by Mohammed Al-Fayed. In his opinion, information about the affair of his former daughter-in-law with a Muslim so angered the royal family (they say that the mother of the future king cannot connect her life with a representative of the Islamic faith), that some of its representatives - primarily Prince Philip and Diana's sister Lady Sarah McCorquodale - decided intervene. Moreover, according to the testimony of Dodi’s father and some servants from his villa, Diana was expecting a child from her lover, and on September 1, the couple, along with the news of their engagement, were going to announce this as well.
A bastard born to the mother of the future king of Great Britain from a Muslim - this would be too much for the British royalties
Metropolitan Police presented several counterarguments to Mohammed's accusations. Firstly, by this time Diana had already mastered the art of communicating with the press, and it was not her style to talk about such high-profile news from her life without prior preparation. No preparations were made for a possible press conference at that time.
On August 30, Dodi Al-Fayed actually visited the Alberto Rossi jewelry boutique, however, judging by the recordings from CCTV cameras, he only left (!) with a catalog. Particularly meticulous ones calculated: Diana and Dodi knew each other for only seven weeks, and judging by the schedules of both, they spent no more than 23 days together - not the most respectable period for announcing an engagement. And in order to scare the royal family, because Diana had previously met with a representative of the Muslim faith.
His name was Hasnat Khan. He worked as a cardiologist in a London hospital and dated the princess for two years. Then Diana seriously thought about connecting her life with a Pakistani doctor and changing her religion for his sake, and, as the investigation found out, even Prince Charles gave her his blessing for this marriage. And how could it be otherwise? After all, despite their separation, the Prince of Wales still could not reunite with his beloved Camilla, and Diana’s potential happiness could well save him from popular hatred and give him a chance for a quiet life with the woman he loves.
As for Diana’s pregnancy, Mohammed announced it only in 2001 - you must agree, it’s too important information, to conceal it for three and a half years (of course, only if this is not another ploy to reopen the investigation). But, despite the skepticism, investigators checked this version as well. The princess's blood test for hCG was negative. In addition, judging by the testimony of her friends, Diana did not seek to marry Dodi and carefully monitored contraception.
On the other hand, the version that they got rid of Diana for being too amorous continued to grow stronger in people’s minds. During court hearings in 2007, Mohammed Al-Fayed's representative Michael Mansfield read to the jury a list of Diana's alleged lovers, based on the testimony of the princess's private secretary, Michael Gibbons. There were four names in the “Mansfield list”, and it ended with an ironic “and so on...”, which hinted that in fact the number of Lady Di’s men cannot be adequately calculated (read also: Princess Diana’s Favorite Men). In any other situation, such information could have played against the Princess of Wales, but this time it became part of the accusation against the royal family and the British authorities and is presented as a possible motive for the murder of Lady Spencer.
Diana was killed by a journalist (and he also worked for British intelligence)
Another “mystical” story floating around about the Parisian tragedy is connected with an old white Fiat Uno, whose traces were discovered by forensic scientists at the scene of the collision of the Mercedes in which the princess was. According to eyewitnesses, the Fiat was indeed in the tunnel, but after the accident the car instantly disappeared from the “crime scene”... and was no longer found within Paris (or was it poorly looked for?).
Suspicion immediately fell on the French photographer James Andonson, who had previously photographed the couple at the Al-Fayed villa in Saint-Tropez and owned exactly the same white Fiat. According to Dodi’s father, the accident could have happened because Andonson’s car “cut off” the Mercedes, as a result of which the driver lost control and crashed into the tunnel wall.
Andonson himself completely denied his involvement in the tragedy. According to him, he had not used the car for a long time, and it was not in the right condition (it was already in its ninth year) to catch up and “cut off” the Mercedes, which was racing at a speed of about 150 kilometers per hour. And the investigation agreed with him. Soon, however, the journalist rushed to urgently sell his Fiat, but this did not arouse suspicion. Traces of Mercedes paint were still not found on Andonson’s car.
Meanwhile, Mohammed stood his ground. Intelligence could well have bribed a photographer with extensive experience in spying on people to push the princess's car to the side just a little. His life, unlike the same Henri Paul, was practically not in danger.
The real car was never found, Andonson had some kind of alibi (his wife confirmed that on the night of the accident he was with her in Linieres, 177 miles from Paris, but, as is known, spouses do not testify against each other), so that the photographer was soon forgotten. And they remembered only three years later - in May 2000, when his incinerated body was found in a car parked in the middle of the forest. Investigators found a bullet mark in the back of his head and, based on the testimony of friends that Andonson’s work in recent weeks had greatly depressed him, they quickly returned a verdict of “suicide.”
However, the photographer’s family hastened to refute the words of his friends, saying that Andonson, on the contrary, had recently been in good spirits, and demanded that an investigation into the murder be carried out. Mohammed Al-Fayed agreed with them, as well as the conspiracy theorists who supported him, who put forward the version that the photographer’s “suicide” was the work of MI6, who removed an inconvenient witness.
The intelligence services killed Diana themselves (without anyone's help)
In fact, conspiracy theorists have still not decided whose intelligence - Great Britain, France or the USA - took care of the elimination of the Princess of Wales. In any case, supporters of this theory have no doubt that special agents are to blame for Diana’s death. In their opinion, for the secret services to arrange such an accident is a simple matter. You just need to prepare the scenery and props in advance.
The first thing that raised questions among the investigation after the accident was unscheduled replacement Princess's Mercedes. The fact is that all day on August 31, Diana and Dodi were driving another car, but in the evening, technical employees suddenly found some kind of mystical breakdown in the car and took it away for repairs. Instead, the Ritz guests were given another Mercedes, which, by the way, also had its own faults (the car had already been in an accident) - for example, the seat belts did not work, and for some reason only on rear seats, where Diana and her lover were located. The princess, by the way, as her acquaintances testify, was always very scrupulous about her safety, so if the belts had worked, she would probably have buckled up and (who knows?), maybe even survived. After all, the death of Diana’s fastened guard has passed.
Due to the fact that the car had already suffered an accident, the driver was prohibited from reaching a speed of more than 60 kilometers per hour, but, as luck would have it, that night the princess’s Mercedes was overtaken by the paparazzi (by the way, according to one of the same theories, these were not photographers, and hired killers, so that if plan “A” fails, they can complete the mission), and you can’t tear yourself away from them at such a modest speed.
Finally, the culmination of the operation is the car entering a tunnel in which none of the 14 cameras are working. The latter is explained by the fact that surveillance in this area is controlled not by the police or private owners, but by the Paris Urban Transport Society, an organization that closes at 11 pm. The cameras remain on, but they do not record anything, and the only chance to see what is happening is to make sure there is a person sitting in front of the monitor. There was no such person that night.
They “help” the driver to lose control: first they cut him off (which has been definitely proven), and then they blind him with a bright flash of light (this was confirmed by witnesses). This technique, as former MI6 officer Richard Tomlinson later told investigators, is a favorite technique of the intelligence services. According to him, intelligence invented this method specifically for the assassination of Yugoslav leader Slobodan Milosevic in 1992. Although later the Metropolitan Police, to which the intelligence service kindly opened the doors of its offices specifically to check the testimony of its former employee, denied Mr. Tomlinson’s words. It turned out that the British had no plans to assassinate Milosevic (as the former agent himself later admitted). The police then found a project to assassinate another Serbian politician, but there were no hints of the use of a flash.
Meanwhile, eyewitnesses admitted that there was an outbreak. But what was missing was an ambulance that quickly arrived at the scene of the accident. Doctors were then called at 12:26 at night, but Princess Diana was delivered to the hospital only at 2:06 - too slow for such a high-ranking patient. And quite suspicious.
That night they wanted to kill Dodi, not Diana
One of the most implausible theories, but still it was put forward by conspiracy theorists for consideration. According to this hypothesis, the "#1 target" that night was not Diana, but Mohammed Al-Fayed. More precisely, his son, by killing whom, the enemies of the Egyptian billionaire could settle scores with him. Diana's death was only a cover for the operation, so that the police would not even think about involving the businessman's ill-wishers as witnesses.
A few years before the tragedy, Mohammed actually managed to make enemies for himself. He fought to acquire the London department store Harrods, was convicted of illegally financing British conservatives, and was also involved in several criminal cases on suspicion of embezzlement and fraud.
The Egyptian businessman always avoided justice, but, according to some conspiracy theorists, his enemies could well take revenge on him on their own - by arranging an accident for his heir in a Paris tunnel.
Diana faked her death and now lives happily away from prying eyes
And for dessert - the most fantastic theory of Diana’s death, which, however, also has its followers. According to her, the Princess of Wales deliberately faked her own death in order to start a new life away from the paparazzi, royal court and fans.
Several facts prompted this idea for some conspiracy theorists. Firstly, some time before the tragedy, Diana more than once admitted to her associates that they wanted to kill her - and precisely by organizing the accident. Such evidence is available, for example, from the princess’s butler Paul Barella, to whom Diana sent a letter back in 1993 in which she admitted that she foresaw her death. In her opinion, it should have been an accident that would open the way for Charles to marry... no, not with Camilla. Then Lady Di was sure that her husband was cheating on her with their children’s nanny, Tiggy Legg-Brook. But that's not what we're talking about now.
Perhaps this is how Diana prepared the ground for her own “death” and this is how she set up Charles, whom she hated? Well, the script looks like a high-quality thriller, but is still difficult to execute outside of the stage.
Secondly, supporters of this theory complain that no one has ever shown the princess’s body to the general public. Her body was buried in a closed coffin, and only a few had a chance to see her in the last minutes before she went to the secluded Spencer Island in Northamptonshire.
Yes, knowing the eccentric character of the Princess of Wales, such an idea could well have occurred to her. But so that she begins to implement it? This scenario is only suitable for crazy conspiracy theories.
The ex-bodyguard said that car driver, in which Lady Di crashed, was drunk. Security guards saw this And could have prevented tragedy, but they didn’t do it. Whorf is convinced that Princess Diana was not deliberately stopped, Express reports. However, this information is far from new.
Reference: On August 31, 1997, Diana died in Paris in a car accident along with Dodi al-Fayed and driver Henri Paul, crashing into a support pole in the Alma tunnel in Paris - the driver increased his speed to escape journalists and lost control. Al-Fayed and Paul died instantly, Diana, taken from the scene (in the tunnel in front of the Alma bridge on the Seine embankment) to the Salpêtrière hospital, died two hours later. The only surviving passenger in the Mercedes S280 with license plate 688 LTV 75, bodyguard Trevor Rees-Jones, who was seriously injured (his face had to be reconstructed by surgeons), does not remember the events.
There are a number of versions of the causes of the accident- 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 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; as well as various conspiracy theories - the British royal family was involved in the death of the princess, who never forgave Diana for her divorce from Prince Charles; 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.
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.
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.
Possibility 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 just crawl. Doctors found a wild amount of an antidepressant in his body. Most likely, this person was poisoned. In addition, I have documents that he worked for the British intelligence services. Only later they found his secret bank accounts, to 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 to Lady Di in which she wrote 10 months before her death: "My life is in danger. Ex-husband plans to organize an accident. My car's brakes will fail and there will be a car accident.".
“Her death was brilliantly organized,” Burrell says, - This is a signature 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 stop at the moment when we left the Ritz Hotel."... (Diana, Princess of Wales. The life and secrets of death of famous people.)
Death at the end of the tunnel, or a fairy tale with a sad ending/Was Diana's death foretold? (Material by A. Sidorenko)
The paparazzi became especially active when they learned about the affair between Diana and Dodi al-Fayed. The son of the Egyptian financial tycoon Mohamed Faed, who settled in London, Dodi became seriously interested in Diana and, after a holiday with the princess and her children, Cote d'Azur in France he even admitted to his relative that she had agreed to marry him.
On August 30, 1997, Diana and Dodi arrived in Paris after a 10-day stay on the French Riviera. Diana and her friend spent the entire last day of their lives under the guns of paparazzi cameras and video cameras; only at the Ritz Hotel, owned by Dodi’s father, did they finally manage to retire. The photographers, just in case, decided to split up: some went to the 16th district of Paris, where Dodi had own house, others remained on guard at the hotel.
After midnight, security tried to misdirect the paparazzi on duty at the Ritz. Several left the hotel identical cars, in one of which the driver Dodi was, and moved in different directions. However, when the Mercedes with Dodi and Diana left the hotel, several paparazzi still followed them on motorcycles.
The Mercedes tried to break away from the uninvited escort and reached a speed of about 160 km/h, but the paparazzi did not lag behind. At 0.25, the Mercedes flew into the Alma Bridge tunnel, there was a terrifying squeal of tires and the sound of an impact... The car crashed into one of the tunnel supports, flew off, rolled over several times and froze in the middle of the road. It was no longer a Mercedes, but a pile of twisted metal. The driver and Dodi died immediately, and Diana and her bodyguard were seriously injured. Instead of trying to help the victims, one of the paparazzi began frantically photographing what was left of the car and its passengers.
10 minutes later the ambulance arrived. For about an hour, rescuers pulled Diana out of the crumpled car. Only at 2 a.m. the princess was taken to the Pitié Salpêtrière hospital, but all attempts to save her were unsuccessful. At 4 a.m. it was announced that Diana's heart had stopped. Britain greeted Sunday morning with flags at half-staff as a sign of mourning...
Lady Di, according to the recollections of her friends and relatives, took mysticism very seriously. With the help of British clairvoyant Rita Rogers, she arranged séances to communicate with her late father. It was Rogers that she visited with Dodi 19 days before her death. What Rogers prophesied for her is unknown...
On the eve of the 5th anniversary of the death of Princess Diana, a book by her former bodyguard Ken Wharf was published in England. He called it "A Closely Guarded Secret." The book immediately became a bestseller, although it infuriated not only the royal family, but also most of the British people. Ken Wharf was Diana's bodyguard for almost 6 years - from 1987 to 1993. According to him, he not only guarded Lady Di, but was also her confidant. It was to him that she revealed many of the secrets of her unhappy marriage to Prince Charles.
Whorf's book is full of shocking revelations. The author not only cites Diana’s unflattering statements about her husband and members of the royal family and talks about the princess’s lovers, but also confirms that all her telephone conversations were tapped and recorded on film by the secret services.
Whorf characterizes Charles as a very cold person and believes that it was his relationship with Camilla Parker Bowles that pushed Diana into relationships with other men and ultimately led to divorce. The former bodyguard did not feel sorry for Diana herself: according to him, at times she threw real hysterics, and sometimes behaved simply disgustingly. Some consider the publication of this book to be a real betrayal: first, Diana was betrayed by her husband, and now by the man to whom she trusted her secrets. In his defense, Whorf says that he did not intend to upset anyone - he simply wanted to tell the whole truth about Diana, which is why his book is an important historical document. Of course, everything can always be explained by the best intentions. The only thing Ken Whorf doesn't want to talk about is the tidy sum he received for his book. Most likely, it was money that prompted the former bodyguard to take up writing. But, alas, such is the sad fate of all celebrities: whether they are alive or dead, money is made from them. After all, the public is so eager to know “the whole truth” about the idols it created... (Death at the end of the tunnel, or a fairy tale with a sad ending/Was Diana’s death predicted?)
As a bonus. Princess Diana's former bodyguard spoke about the behind-the-scenes moments of her life.
Ken Wharf served as a bodyguard for the British royal family for 16 years. At first he was the personal guard of Princess Diana and her sons, and after the death of Lady Di he was engaged in the protection of Princes William and Harry. During this time, Ken witnessed various behind-the-scenes moments in the life of the royal family, some of which he recently spoke about in an interview with the Daily Mail. We publish the most interesting quotes.
On meeting Princess Diana for the first time:
I went to Kensington Palace for an interview in 1986. They were looking for a security guard for Princes William and Harry. The first thing she said about her sons was: "I don't envy you, Ken. Sometimes they turn into real bloodsuckers.". William, who was immediately playing the piano, turned around and said: "I'm not a bloodsucker". And Harry at that time was on a small table on which stood a vase of flowers. After a while she fell to the floor. William laughed and Diana shooed them out of the room. At that moment I had not uttered a single word. Diana returned and said: "I'm so sorry, Ken.". And then I thought: "We'll definitely work together".
About Princes William and Harry:
Harry is more like Diana than William. He was loved by all the Palace staff. William, as a rule, was often cunning, while Harry was very open. You always knew exactly what to expect from him. He was pleasant, he could come to our room, knock and say: "Is there some kind of battle coming up? I'm bored. Can I at least play with your walkie-talkies?" William never did that, he was always very reserved. And he was quite a difficult child. Everyone liked Harry more because he was more fun. William - no. This is his character, besides, he always understood who he would become. Plus, he lived in a palace, he was looked after around the clock by chefs, nannies, drivers, cleaners, security guards, and stylists. From childhood he understood that he was special.
I thought that Harry would become popular when he grew up - everyone is attracted to his sense of humor and style of communication. In addition, he constantly helps someone and participates in charity work. In all this, he also resembles Diana. Harry would have been a great, memorable king, but sadly that was not to be.
On the relationship between Princess Diana and Prince William:
Diana always brought William down to earth on time, just like his nanny Olga Powell. Her catchphrase: "William, I love you, but I don't like you.". He often indulged. For example, Diana will put aside a bowl of cereal, turn away, and in the meantime William will hide it. To Diana's question "Where is the plate?" he will answer “I don’t know, maybe Harry has her somewhere.”.
On Prince William's attitude to the media:
William must get rid of his negative attitude towards the media. Diana was killed by the incompetence of the security service that night in Paris. End of story. The press was very supportive of him and his family. So he needs to cool things down a bit.
About Princess Diana:
Two days after her funeral, my colleagues and I gathered in a bar. I was terribly depressed, we were all upset. It was hard for us to believe that Diana could have died in a car accident. We remembered the best, most cheerful moments - and there were a lot of them. In the end, we all laughed. Diana was very cheerful. I talked a lot afterwards with her mother, who has always had a bad relationship with the royal family. And once she said: "We're not royal blood, that's the whole point.". In a sense, I agree with her. Diana was not a princess in the full sense, she was always much simpler and freer. She was ahead, but the royal family could not accept it. (
