Princess Diana had dreams of starting a new life in California. She also wanted
to make the world better through her humanitarian work. But details behind
Diana's death reveal why those dreams were cut tragically short.
Several accounts from the night that Princess Diana and Dodi Fayed died have insisted on one
thing: Fayed was set to propose to Diana and had given her a $200,000 diamond ring
that very day. While there was no confirmation that Fayed had given Diana the ring with the
intent of marriage, there has been intense speculation that he did. Michael Cole,
at the time a spokesperson for the Fayed family, later lamented to the Washington Post,
Express also supported this theory and noted in February 2021 that a receipt for
an engagement ring was found in Fayed's flat. The ring was reportedly inscribed
with the words "Dis-moi Oui" or "tell me yes." Author Martyn Gregory also told the
outlet that Fayed was set to propose, though it's unknown if Diana would have
accepted as the pair had only been dating for a handful of months when they died.
Princess Diana was interviewed by the BBC's Martin Bashir two years before she died. The
interview was truly a unique one for a member of the royal family, as Diana bared all. She spoke
about affairs she engaged in while married to King Charles III and about the affairs he had as well.
"Well, there were three of us in this marriage. So, it was a bit crowded."
Diana detailed how these relationships made her feel, as well as her role in the royal family.
She also admitted to self-harm and bulimia during the interview. Ultimately, the interview and the
subsequent fall-out led to Queen Elizabeth II telling Diana and Charles they had to divorce.
Years later, an inquiry into the interview revealed that Bashir went to extraordinary
and unsavory lengths to secure the interview in the first place. The BBC's Tom Mangold told
journalist Mark Williams-Thomas that Bashir worked with the state media's graphic designer to forge
bank statements that convinced an employee that Diana's brother had sold royal stories to the
media. These bank statements were used in part to get the interview with Diana in the first place.
Diana never found out the truth about the interview that caused such turmoil in her
life. Her son Prince William vocalized his support for the inquiry into the interview
in November 2020, expressing his hope that what really happened would be revealed.
"Theses failings identified by investigative journalists,
not only let my mother down, and my family down, they let the public down, too."
In his 2003 book, A Royal Duty, Princess Diana's former butler Paul Burrell revealed a number of
secrets and behind-the-scenes details about Diana's final weeks and months.
Burrell believed strongly that Diana planned to leave Europe and live in the United States,
specifically in Malibu, California, and that she even planned to move into the
former home of Julie Andrews with her sons Prince William and Prince Harry.
Burrell added that Diana believed William and Harry would thrive in California and
that the royal family would have let the young boys spend part of
their lives in the United States. Burrell told Good Morning America,
Decades after her death, her son Prince Harry and his bride, Meghan Markle,
would go on to settle in California as a home base of sorts while traveling to and from Britain.
Another tragic element about Princess Diana's too-short life is that she and her brother
Charles Spencer reportedly weren't getting along well at the time of her death. In fact,
Paul Burrell also wrote in his book that the two hadn't been close for about a decade. Yet,
when Diana died, Charles ironically was the one who ended up with access to her estate
and who made several decisions that even Diana's sons reportedly disagreed with. One
such decision was the transfer of Diana's wedding dress to the Spencer family home,
which Burrell said Prince William was opposed to. Burell told Good Morning America,
Burrell also told the media outlet that Diana had asked to live at her family's
estate but that her brother had told her no. As Burrell put it to Good Morning America,
Princess Diana is known for changing the face of the royal family and is
credited with being a force for good for the institution of the monarchy itself. Emma Hart,
who directs the McNeil Center for Early American Studies, told Penn Today that Diana pushed the
royal family to "move into the 21st century." Hart also noted that Diana had an impact on her
sons beyond the handful of years she got to spend with them. Hart told Penn Today,
In addition to her impact on the social structure of the monarchy,
Diana had extended her reach well beyond the confines of Buckingham
Palace. She is remembered for working with patients with AIDS to this day.
"She shook hands with the patients and myself."
As Hart explained to Penn Today, perhaps one of Diana's most important contributions was to
show that the royal family could affect real change in the world.
Journalist Mark Williams-Thomas made a documentary titled Diana: The Ultimate
Truth in 2022. In the film, Williams-Thomas explored Diana's death and detailed how she
passed away. At one point, Williams-Thomas spoke with cardiac surgeon Tom Treasure,
who examined the details of the car accident that claimed Diana's life.
Treasure explained that Diana, who wasn't wearing a seatbelt when she died,
had suffered a heart injury in the crash. It appeared that Diana was sitting sideways
in the car when it crashed and that the injury itself wasn't necessarily fatal
if the circumstances of Diana's death had been different. Treasure said in the documentary,
Medical professionals took Diana to Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital with
additional injuries, including a concussion, broken arm, and cut thigh. Doctors at the
hospital spent two hours working to repair Diana's heart, hoping to stimulate it to
beat the way it should. Ultimately, she died at 4:53 a.m. on August 31, 1997.
Princess Diana wasn't the only one who died on August 30th and 31st. Her boyfriend,
Dodi Fayed, and the car's driver, Henri Paul, were killed instantly
when the vehicle crashed. They also left behind family members who continue to mourn
their loss — and some believe that Fayed might have even left an infant daughter.
In February 1998, the Daily Record out of Scotland spoke to Diane Holliday,
who claimed that her daughter Marni was conceived during a nearly year-long affair that she and
Fayed had. According to the paper, Marni was born in the United States and placed for adoption,
which Holliday claimed made Fayed angry. She went on to state that Fayed gave her
£75,000 after she told him she was pregnant.
Holliday also claimed that she and Fayed both understood their relationship was not
rooted in love for one another. Despite that, Fayed paid for her older children to attend
school and told her she didn't need to worry about getting pregnant because of "low sperm
count." Fayed was initially pleased with her pregnancy. He reportedly didn't argue when she
said she'd get an abortion. Holliday changed her mind, and Marni was born in November 1996.
Dodi Fayed's family was plunged into intense grief following his tragic
passing alongside Princess Diana. In December 2020, Dodi's younger sister
Camilla Fayed spoke to The Sun about her family's experience following her
older brother's death. Camilla, who was 12 years old when Dodi died, told the outlet,
She went on to add that the family had to contend with the ultra-public nature
of Dodi and Diana's deaths, which impacted their ability
to cope behind closed doors as a family. Camilla added that it's not possible for
the deaths to feel like something that can be moved on from. She told The Sun,
There are two significant factors that led to the deaths of Princess Diana, Dodi Fayed,
and Henri Paul on that late August night in 1997. Paul, the driver of the car, was well over the
legal limit for alcohol. On top of that, the trio's car was heavily pursued by photographers
on motorbikes, who were driving recklessly and contributed to Paul's loss of control.
In the days following Diana's death, the paparazzi had been waiting for Diana and Fayed for hours
before they headed out for their final trip. The first photographer had stationed themselves
outside the Ritz around 5:30 p.m. that night, and more showed up after Diana went shopping down the
Champs-Elysées that evening. The pair had already ended their vacation early due to paparazzi
intrusion. They made plans to travel approximately 30 minutes away for their last night in the city.
Fayed asked his regular driver to take a separate car in an attempt to
foil the waiting photographers. Paul was added to the journey at the last minute,
and he ultimately lost control of the car in the tunnel at the Pont de l'Alma. Ultimately,
blood analysis found that Paul was well over the legal limit the night of the fateful crash.