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Revisiting The Final Moments Of Princess Diana's Life On Her Death Anniversary: From Tragic Paparazzi Chase To Fatal Car Crash
Princess Diana tragically died in a car crash on August 31, 1997 in Paris. Here's a look back at her final moments on her 27th death anniversary.
On August 31, 1997, Diana, Princess of Wales, tragically passed away due to a fatal car crash alongside her friend Dodi Fayed. The incident happened at the Pont de l’Alma bridge in Paris while they were chased by reporters when their driver, Henri Paul, completely lost control of the car and crashed into concrete.
The crash also took the lives of her paramour Dodi and their chauffeur Henri. Years later, the last hours of Princess Diana have still been under vigorous investigative efforts and the sixth season of Netflix's The Crown focuses on this period. These four years from 1997 to 2005 will also covered in the series along with the aftermath of the crash.
The latest trailer for the season also gives an idea about the events concerning the crash that would have been included in the show. In the scene, Diana (Elizabeth Debicki) and Dodi (Khalid Abdalla) are shown trying to escape a swarm of paparazzi before the deadly crash.
Looking back at the final hours of Princess Diana before her fatal car crash
There was probably no person on the planet who did not know the Princess of Wales in August 1997. Her death and final hours have been investigated countless times over the past three decades by the police, researchers, journalists, and fans.
Here is a timeline of the last few hours of Princess Diana:
On August 30th afternoon, Diana and Dodi Fayed traveled to France after spending 9 days in the vessel of Mohamed Al-Fayed sailing the French and Italian Riviera. They checked into The Ritz, which belonged to Dodi’s father at that time, only with the intention to spend the night before leading on to London. Diana went to a hairdresser that afternoon whereas Dodi went to a shop and acquired a Repossi diamond engagement ring worth 11600 pounds meant for the Princess.
Dodi had intended to make the proposal that night but upon coming from The Ritz, they went first to Dodi’s apartment and then to the hotel restaurant. Their efforts to do that were thwarted as they both had to return to their suite by 10 pm as there were too many photographers around. The duo sought to avoid them by employing a decoy car that would take the heat off them, and then when could leave.
Paparazzi hound Princess Di by chasing her car
At 12:19 am Dodi and Diana, having departed from The Ritz finally put their plans in motion, only to be thwarted by the fact the cars and motorcycles of reporters were following them everywhere. Their chauffeur Henri Paul lost control of the vehicle which was moving at the speed of 65 mph along the Pont de l’Alma tunnel. The Mercedes Benz W1 440 lost control after trying to maneuver around a white Fiat and crashed into a concrete wall.
The impact was so great that the car was completely destroyed. Even though the couple’s bodyguard Trevor Rees-Jones survived the collision due to being secured by seatbelts during the impact, Diana, Dodi and Henri Paul were not so thorough. Some reported smoke and many flashbulbs around the crash scene.
Shortly afterwards, the police and an ambulance arrived. It was established that Dodi died at the scene although Diana appeared to be breathing but dazed.
Princess Diana declared dead at hospital few hours after the crash
Her shoulder was dislocated, some ribs discovered fractured, and worse, one of her arms was broken. As per The Times in 2007, Diana was in such shock that she needed to be strapped down and sedated before any therapy could be given to her.
Around 1:00 am, at the accident scene, Lady Di went into cardiac arrest but after resuscitation, she was successfully revived. After that, she was taken to the Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital by 2:00 am. However, when she got to the hospital, she couldn’t be saved by any means as her heart had been dislocated due to the accident and it had been torn in places.
She was declared dead at 3:00 am. At a news conference at 6:00 am before the assorted reporters, it was made known to the world that Diana, Princess of Wales had died.
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