Lady Diana died on August 31, 1997 in a car accident in Paris. The vehicle of the 36-year-old princess and her companion Dodi Al-Fayed was trying to flee from paparazzi when the collision took place.
After a dinner at the Ritz in Paris, Lady Diana and the businessman Dodi Al-Fayed slip away from the palace by a discreet entrance in a new car. The billionaire’s car and that of his bodyguards take the usual exit to serve as a decoy to the paparazzi who have followed the couple since their arrival in Paris. But some photographers aren’t fooled and spot the new vehicle. On board are the Princess of Wales, Dodi Al-Fayed, her bodyguard Trevor Rees-Jones and driver Henri Paul. To escape his pursuers, the car travels at more than 100 km/h on a lane on the banks of the Seine limited to 50 km/h. In the tunnel of the Alma bridge, it hits the right wall, swerves and ends its course against a pillar. Dodi Al-Fayed and the driver are killed instantly. Trevor Rees-Jones is seriously injured. As for Lady Diana, she is rushed to the hospital, but her heart stops several times in the ambulance. Suffering from severe internal bleeding, she was declared dead 4 hours after the accident at the Pitié-Salpêtrière hospital. The various investigations highlight the fact that the driver was under the influence of alcohol at the time of the events and that the occupants of the car had not fastened their seat belts. On the other hand, the paparazzi who pursued the vehicle benefited from a dismissal.
Coming from an aristocratic family, Diana Frances Spencer was an ideal choice for the Prince Charles. His candor and reserve suit the royal family. The marriage is therefore arranged quickly while the two young people barely know each other. But already at this time, Diana knows of the existence of Camilla Parker Bowles. The wedding was celebrated on July 29, 1981 and broadcast around the world. The following year, the couple welcomed their first child, William. Prince Harry was born two years later. During this period, the princess is unhappy. She suffers from depression and bulimia. She even made several suicide attempts. The couple flutters more and more and both take refuge in the arms of another person. The names of Lady Diana’s lovers are not all known, but it is possible to cite: James Gilbey or James Hewitt (her riding coach). The two spouses separated in 1992, but the divorce was not pronounced until August 28, 1996. The princess consoled herself in the arms of Hasnat Khan, a British surgeon of Pakistani origin. The media coverage of their idyll caused the end of their relationship in June 1997. Diana then turned to Dodi Al-Fayed and began a more or less fictitious relationship with him which caused a lot of noise.
Tributes to Lady Diana have been multiplying for several days already. Many television channels have notably planned programs dedicated to the life of the princess who disappeared 25 years ago. Nicknamed the “princess of hearts”, the young woman died in a car accident in Paris on August 31, 1997. His body is buried at Althorp, the family estate of the Spencer family. His grave is on an island in the middle of a lake. On the occasion of this sad anniversary, the program Secrets d’histoire de France 3 is also back in service for an exceptional number on Monday August 29. Stéphane Bern’s magazine takes stock of Diana, this illustrious stranger… (in replay with this link). Presenter Nathalie Roux presents an evening dedicated to the princess on W9 on Wednesday August 31, the anniversary of the tragic accident. Title Minute by minute: Lady Diana – The tragic end of the princess of hearts, the show is scheduled for 9:05 p.m. Finally, France 5 will broadcast a documentary directed by Henry Singer on Monday, September 5 to find out everything about the accident that cost Lady Diana’s life: Diana, the seven days following her death. M6 has already put its report online: Who was Lady Diana really? (in replay with this link), which is based on unpublished testimonies and archive images. TF1 did the same with its program: Diana: the other side of the crown (in replay with this link). C8 has proposed an unpublished documentary entitled Diana, story of a princess (in replay with this link), broadcast on Thursday, August 25.
Diana Frances Spencer, nicknamed “Lady Diana” or “Lady Di”, is a British aristocrat, wife of Prince Charles of Wales and mother of the two heirs to the throne of England, William Duke of Cambridge and Henry of Wales. A complex personality, but adored by the British, his controversial death in a car accident in Paris helps to maintain the myth and perpetuate his legend.
Born July 1, 1961 in Sandringham into a family of traditional British nobility, Diana Spencer became Princess of Wales in 1981 after her arranged marriage to the heir to the throne of England, Prince Charles. Hardly supporting the constraints of a court life and the sadness of a loveless marriage, the Princess of Wales quickly slipped into depression and attempted suicide shortly after the birth of her first son in 1982. The ruin of the princely marriage , materialized by numerous adulteries committed by one and the other of the parties, was initially stifled by the British press, but finally burst into the open in the early 1990s. The Prince and Princess of Wales ended up separated in 1992 and then officially divorced in 1996.
Despite the failure of her marriage and until her death in 1997, Lady Diana showed a remarkable commitment to many humanitarian causes. Thus, she put her notoriety at the service of the fight against HIV from 1987 and committed herself ardently against the use of anti-personnel mines during a highly publicized trip to Angola in 1997. It was partly her action that favored the signing of the Ottawa Treaty on December 3, 1997, prohibiting the use of anti-personnel mines.
Lady Diana: key dates
- July 29, 1981: Wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana
- In the presence of 2,500 guests gathered at St. Paul’s Cathedral in London, the heir to the throne of Great Britain, Prince Charles, 32, marries Lady Diana Spencer, 19. The event is televised worldwide, and an estimated 600 million viewers watched the ceremony. They had two sons and divorced in 1996.
- August 31, 1997: Death of Lady Di
- Diana, the ex-wife of the Prince of Wales, dies at the Pitié-Salpêtrière hospital in Paris, after being the victim of a car accident in the tunnel of the Alma bridge. His companion Dodi al-Fayed, a wealthy Egyptian, was killed instantly, as was the driver, Henri Paul, who was driving fast to sow paparazzi. Only Diana’s bodyguard Trevor Rees Jones survived. two million people will follow his funeral.
- September 6, 1997: Princess Diana’s funeral
- Two million people take to the streets of London to pay their last respects to Princess Diana. During the ceremony, Elton John performing “Candle in the Wind”. In the afternoon Diana is buried at the Spencer family homestead in Althorp, North London.