The event has been told many times and the craziest theories have been proposed. Twenty-five years after Princess Diana’s death in a horrific car accident, along with her partner Dodi Al-Fayed, the drama continues to arouse both interest and speculation. This is what happened on the night of August 30-31, 1997.
• Saturday August 30
Diana arrives from Sardinia on Saturday August 30 in a private jet with her companion, film producer Dodi Al-Fayed, after a brief stopover in London.
• 16:35, arrival at the Ritz
Diana and Dodi Al-Fayed arrive at the Ritz, place Vendôme. The luxury hotel is owned by Dodi Al-Fayed’s father, Egyptian businessman Mohamed Al-Fayed. The establishment’s surveillance cameras recorded the couple walking through the hotel lobby at 4:35 p.m. on August 30. The paparazzi are there stationed in front of the hotel.
The couple leaves the hotel to go to the Repossi jewelry store to choose two rings, which will be delivered later in the evening to their suite.
Diana and Dodi Al-Fayed approach the Arc de Triomphe, where the producer has an apartment.
The couple decides to have dinner at Espadon, the Ritz restaurant, after having canceled a reservation at the Chez Benoît restaurant, because of the paparazzi. According to the book The day Diana died by Christopher Andersen, Dodi Al-Fayed, fearing that the photographers might pose as patrons of the restaurant, decides to have dinner delivered to his suite.
As the photographers rush in front of the hotel, Dodi and Diana try to fool their surveillance and take the back entrance of the establishment, to return to Dodi’s apartment. It is Henri Paul, head of security at the Ritz, who takes the wheel. Bodyguard Trevor Rees-Jones is also in the vehicle, a Mercedes S280. According to Christopher Andersen, Henri Paul has consumed alcohol, one whiskey and one beer, and his blood alcohol level is more than three times the legal limit in France.
• 00:23, the accident
The car, chased by the paparazzi, enters the tunnel under the Alma bridge, at more than 100 kilometers per hour. At 12:23 a.m., the car swerved and struck the thirteenth bridge pier. The driver and Dodi Al Fayed are killed instantly.
Doctor Frédéric Maillez, who works for SOS Médecins, happens to be there by chance. By notifying the damaged car, he is the first doctor on the scene. He repeatedly recounted the attempt to rescue the Princess of Wales.
“I opened the door and looked inside,” he told the AP news agency. “Four people were inside, two of them appeared dead, unconscious or unconscious, and the other two were alive but seriously injured.”
“The front passenger was screaming, she was breathing. She could wait a few minutes. The passenger was on her knees, on the floor of the Mercedes, she had her head down, ”says the doctor, who did not recognize Diana.
“He was having difficulty breathing. He needed help quickly.” Dr. Maillez calls the emergency services and provides first aid to the princess, with a breathing bag that he carries on top of her.
“He had lost consciousness. Thanks to the breathing bag, she regained some energy, but she couldn’t speak.” It’s 1:18 a.m.
• 1h45, the queen is informed of the accident
The British ambassador is the first to be informed of the accident. He contacts Robin Janvrin, the queen’s private secretary, who informs the sovereign, on vacation at Balmoral in Scotland, that the princess has had a serious accident.
• 4:25 am, Diana succumbs to her injuries
The princess was transferred to the Pitié-Salpêtrière hospital where she arrived at 2 am She has a cardiac arrest during the trip. She dies an hour later, despite her intense efforts to revive her. Diana, Princess of Wales was declared dead at 4:25 a.m.
Trevor Rees-Jones, who was in the front, will be the only survivor of the accident.
Source: BFM TV
