Princess Diana died on August 31, 1997 in a car crash in Paris, France. While the shockwaves
of the tragedy are still felt today, there are many who think the crash was anything
but an accident, even though it was officially ruled as such. Most investigations concur
that Diana's "unlawful death" was caused by the haphazard driving of her chauffeur Henri
Paul, deemed inebriated at the time, and the hot pursuit of the paparazzi right on the
tail of Diana's limo. Conspiracy theories prevail decades later, however, that more
intentional and nefarious forces may have been at play that night.
Per USA Today, popular persisting theories include that the intercultural nature of Diana's
romance with her Egyptian boyfriend Dodi Fayed, who died in the same crash, doomed their relationship
from the beginning. Unbeknownst to them, the chauffeur Paul was an MI6 agent, and that
Prince Philip specifically had a hand in orchestrating Diana's death. However, the last rumor was
ruled out by a British coroner in 1998, leading Lord Justice Scott Baker to divert the attention
of an 11-member jury back to the paparazzi chase and Paul's vehicular recklessness. Baker
said back then,
"There is no evidence that the Duke of Edinburgh ordered Diana's execution and there is no
evidence that the Secret Intelligence Service or any other government agency organized it."
Given widespread acceptance that the paparazzi and Paul were at fault, why are conspiracy
theories surrounding Diana's death still going strong to this day?
The main reason that conspiracy rumors surrounding Princess Diana's fatal car crash in 1997 just
won't dissipate seemingly all point back to Mohamed al-Fayed. Mohamed, an Egyptian businessman,
was the father of Diana's boyfriend, Dodi, and the person who launched a private investigation
into the crash. According to The Independent, such was Mohamed's persistence that London's
Metropolitan Police were compelled to launch their own probe, Operation Paget, to investigate
whether there was any truth behind the theories he'd proposed.
"They've been murdered. Dodi and Diana been murdered. Definitely."
As Martyn Gregory, author of "Diana: The Last Days," explained in the TLC documentary "Princess
Diana: Tragedy or Treason," Mohamed believed Dodi was about to propose to Diana the night
of the crash. As Gregory detailed, Dodi allegedly checked out a series of engagement rings called
"Tell Me Yes." According to the biographer,
"He didn't buy one of the rings, but he did order a ring for Diana."
As Reader's Digest reported, Mohamed allegedly claimed the royal family did not want Prince
William, the future King of England, to have a Muslim stepfather. However, Operation Paget
found that Dodi never purchased an engagement ring. Also false, as discovered through blood
testing, was Mohamed's claim that Diana was pregnant, with Mohamed suggesting that this
served as further possible motivation for the crown to frown upon the relationship.
Per The Independent,
"[Operation Paget] lasted years, cost millions of pounds — and found that the theories
were entirely without foundation."
Alleging that the British royals had an insidious hand in Princess Diana's tragic death due
to religious and cultural prejudice is one thing. But the much wilder conspiracy theory
still gripping some people's imagination is that Henri Paul, the chauffeur driving the
car she died in, was actually an informant for MI6. The source of this theory is none
other than former MI6 officer, Richard Tomlinson. According to USA Today, Tomlinson told reporters
at the time,
"Henri Paul, who was the driver of the car, was also the security manager at the Ritz
Hotel and he was a MI6 informant. [...] I saw his file [...] It’s been well-established
that he went missing for two or three hours the night of his death."
Tomlinson said to simply follow the money. Per USA Today, Paul had a take-home pay of
$35,000 a year. And yet, he had almost $250,000 in his bank account at the time of his death,
as well as a significant amount in cash on his person when he died, which Tomlinson notes
was possibly MI6's payment to him. Tomlinson told a French judge back in 1998,
"I am certain that this money originated from MI6 [...] This is speculation on my part,
but if he was an MI6 informant, it would be quite normal for him to receive money."
It sounds like this is one spy game that will forever be a guessing game, too.
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