Death of Princess Diana. Five main versions of the death of Princess Diana Princess Diana was killed by her husband

Princess Diana and Dodi Al Fayed

August 31, 1997 in Paris, "Mercedes S280" at great speed away from the chase. Inside the luxury car were Princess Diana, her close friend, the son of the Egyptian billionaire Dodi al-Fayed, and bodyguard Trevor Rhys Jones. Driver Henri Paul was driving. The death of Princess Diana is one of the most mysterious tragedies of the last century. More and more criminologists are convinced that she was killed by order of the royal family.

Diary with compromising evidence

The star couple was followed everywhere by the paparazzi. And on this fateful trip, the car tried to break away from the stubborn photographers. In the tunnel in front of the Alma bridge on the Seine embankment, the car crashed into a concrete fence. The driver and Dodi al-Fayed died immediately, Princess Diana was taken to the hospital, where she also died two hours later.
The only one who managed to survive in a terrible accident was a bodyguard. But he received such head injuries that he lost his memory and could not say anything about the last moments before the accident.

In 2008, as a result of the investigation, an official conclusion was made: the cause of the accident was the enormous speed of the car and the fact that the driver was frankly drunk. In his blood, the amount of alcohol was three times the amount allowed under French law. However, the official version, that is, an attempt to explain the death of Lady Dee, as she was called in the UK, as a banal accident, raised doubts among everyone who tried to independently investigate this tragedy.

Photos from the death of Princess Diana

Princess Diana was the wife of Prince Charles, heir to the British throne until 1996. And, of course, she knew the darkest secrets of what happened at the royal court. In particular, she knew the names of high-ranking individuals involved in the arms trade and the production of anti-personnel mines banned worldwide. Therefore, the main alternative version is that the British intelligence services were involved in the death of Diana.

Princess Diana

This version has confirmation. Lawyer Michael Mansfield said that Diana kept a secret diary, which contained not only the names of arms dealers from the top leadership of Britain, but also other dirty secrets of the court. And allegedly, having finally quarreled with her ex-husband, she was going to publish or transfer the diary to Dodi's father, billionaire Mohammed al-Fayed. The publication of such compromising evidence would lead to a catastrophe in all European politics. The British government could not allow this.

By the way, after the death of Diana, this diary was searched for a long time, but, according to official information, they were never found.

How Princess Diana Was Murdered

Another motive for the murder could be the fact that Dodi and Diana, who at the time of her death had already divorced Prince Charles, were going to get married. Thus, the sons of Charles and Diana - princes and heirs to the crown - would become the adopted children of an Arab. This combination seemed unacceptable from the point of view of the ruling dynasty in Great Britain.

These arguments are logically combined with another version - that they did not attempt on Diana at all. Many criminologists believe that the target of the British intelligence services was Dodi al-Fayed, and Diana "fell under the distribution" by accident.

Dodi Al Fayed

The method by which the star couple was eliminated is also unknown. There are many eyewitnesses who at that moment were not far from the crash site. They claim that just before the accident, a flash of light flashed from the tunnel. So bright that it blinded the drivers of other cars and they almost lost control. Immediately after that, there was a screech of brakes and a terrible blow - the Mercedes crashed, in which Princess Diana and Dodi were. It was because of this flash that the blinded Henri Paul lost control and crashed into the fence.

According to many researchers, the SAS, the United Kingdom Special Air Service, orchestrated the disaster. The information surfaced during a military tribunal over Sergeant Danny Nightingale, who served in the SAS. At the trial, he stated that Diana was killed by a sniper from an ultra-modern laser rifle. However, the British police, who tested this version, did not find sufficient evidence to confirm it.

Another curious fact is that Lady Dee seemed to have known about the impending murder months before her death. She made an audio recording in which she gave advice to her son William and his future wife on how to live "when she is gone." Lana Marks, who sewed bags for the princess and often spoke with her, confirmed that Diana's voice was indeed on the tape.

At one time there was a version that someone deliberately damaged the braking system of the Mercedes. The basis for this was the lines from Lady Dee's letter: " I entered the most terrible phase of my life. Anything can happen now. For example, brake failure in my car, accident and death«.

But detailed studies of what was left of the car did not provide convincing evidence of this fact. Private investigations into the death of Princess Diana of Wales are still ongoing. It is likely that new circumstances will be revealed that will shed light on this tragedy.

Vanga on the death of Princess Diana

On the wedding day of Diana and Prince Charles, the famous Bulgarian fortuneteller Vanga made an unexpectedly gloomy prediction. “This wedding will kill the girl. We will die together… she will hear of my death, but we will die together.” Indeed, both women died in August. Vanga - August 11, 1996, and Diana - a year later - August 31, 1997. The proof that Diana's death is a murder is considered by occultists to be that the spirit of the late princess has not calmed down and continues to appear on earth. For example, Chinese tourists who came to Scotland saw the ghost of Diana in the church and even took a picture of it. Ufologists studied the recording, but never came to the conclusion whether it was an optical illusion or the ghost of Lady Dee really appeared.

Diana Spencer is one of the most famous women of the twentieth century, whose tragic fate left a mark on the hearts of her contemporaries. Having become the wife of the heir to the royal throne, she faced betrayal and betrayal and was not afraid to expose the hypocrisy and cruelty of the British monarchy to the world.

The tragic death of Diana was perceived by many as a personal tragedy, a huge number of books, films and musical works are dedicated to her. Why Princess Diana was so popular among the common people, we will try to understand this material.

Childhood and family

Diana Francis Spencer is a representative of an old aristocratic dynasty, the founders of which were the descendants of Kings Charles II and James II. The Duke of Marlborough, Winston Churchill and many other famous Englishmen belonged to her noble family. Her father, John Spencer, held the title of Viscount Eltrop. The mother of the future princess, Frances Ruth (née Roche), was also of noble birth - her father was a baron, and her mother was a confidant and maid of honor of Queen Elizabeth.

Diana became the third girl in the Spencer family, she has two older sisters - Sarah (1955) and Jane (1957). A year before her birth, a tragedy occurred in the family - a boy born on January 12, 1960 died ten hours after birth. This event seriously affected the already less than ideal relationship between the parents, and the birth of Diana could no longer correct this situation. In May 1964, the long-awaited heir Charles was born to the Spencer couple, but their marriage was already bursting at the seams, his father spent all his time hunting and playing cricket, and his mother got a lover.

Diana from early childhood felt like an unnecessary and unloved child, deprived of attention and love. Neither mother nor father ever said simple words to her: "We love you." The divorce of her parents was a shock for an eight-year-old girl, her heart was torn between her father and mother, who no longer wanted to live as one family. Francis left the children to her husband and left with her new chosen one for Scotland, the next meeting of Diana with her mother took place only at the wedding ceremony with Prince Charles.

In early childhood, Diana was brought up and educated by governesses and home teachers. In 1968, the girl was sent to the prestigious West Hill Private School, where her older sisters were already studying. Diana loved to dance, drew beautifully, went in for swimming, but the rest of the subjects were given to her with difficulty. She failed her final exams and was left without a matriculation certificate. School failures were due more to lack of self-confidence and low self-esteem than to low intellectual ability.

In 1975, John Spencer inherited the title of earl from his deceased father, and a year later he married Raine, Countess of Dartmouth. The children disliked their stepmother, boycotted her and refused to sit at the same table. Only after the death of her father in 1992, Diana changed her attitude towards this woman and began to warmly communicate with her.

In 1977, the future princess went to Switzerland to continue her education. Homesickness forced her to return without graduating from an educational institution. The girl moved to London and got a job.

In English aristocratic families, it is customary for grown-up children to work on an equal footing with ordinary citizens, so Diana, despite her noble birth, worked as a teacher in the Young England kindergarten, which still exists in the respectable London district of Pimlico and is proud of its connection with the royal family .

She lived in a small apartment given to her by her father as an adult, and led the usual way of life for English youth. At the same time, she was a modest and well-mannered girl, shunned noisy London parties with marijuana and alcohol, and did not start serious novels.

Meeting Prince Charles

Diana's first meeting with Prince Charles took place in 1977 at the Spencer family estate in Althorp. The heir to the British crown then met with her older sister Sarah, the girl was even invited to the palace, which indicated serious plans for her. However, Sarah did not burn with the desire to become a princess, she did not hide her passion for alcohol, because of which she was expelled from school, and hinted at infertility.

The queen was not satisfied with this state of affairs, and she began to consider Diana as a possible bride for her son. And Sarah happily married a calm, reliable man with a wonderful sense of humor, bore him three children and lived a happy family life.

The queen's desire to marry her son as soon as possible was caused by his relationship with Camilla Shand, a smart, energetic and sexy blonde, but not well-born enough to become the heir to the throne. And Charles liked such women: experienced, sophisticated and ready to carry him in their arms. Camilla was also not averse to becoming a member of the royal family, however, as a smart woman, she had a fallback in the person of officer Andrew Parker-Bowles. But the heart of Andrew for a long time was occupied by Princess Anna, Charles's sister.

The marriage of Camilla and Bowles became a solution to two problems for the royal family at once - at that time Charles served in the Navy, and when he returned, he met his beloved already in the status of a married lady. This did not prevent them from continuing their love relationship, which did not stop with the advent of Lady Diana in the life of Prince. Looking ahead, we add that eight years after the death of Lady Spencer, the prince married Camilla.

Diana, on the other hand, was a modest pretty girl without a train of scandals and with an excellent pedigree - an excellent match for the future heir to the throne. The queen persistently suggested that her son pay attention to her, and Camilla was not against the marriage of her lover to a young, inexperienced lady who did not pose any threat to her. Submitting to the will of his mother and realizing his duty to the dynasty, the prince invited Diana, first to the royal yacht, and then to the palace, where, in the presence of members of the royal family, he proposed to her.

The official announcement of the engagement took place on February 24, 1981. Lady Dee showed the public a luxurious sapphire and diamond ring, which now adorns the finger of Kate Middleton, the wife of her eldest son.

After the engagement, Diana left her job as a teacher and moved first to the royal residence in Westminster, and then to Buckingham Palace. It was an unpleasant surprise for her that the prince lived in separate apartments, continued to lead his usual way of life and rarely spoiled the bride with attention.

The coldness and aloofness of the royal family negatively affected Diana's psyche, childhood fears and insecurities returned to her, and bulimia attacks became more frequent. Before the wedding, the girl lost 12 kilograms, her wedding dress had to be sutured several times. She felt like a stranger in the royal palace, it was difficult for her to get used to the new rules, and the environment seemed cold and hostile.

On July 29, 1981, a magnificent wedding ceremony took place, which was seen on television screens by about a million people. Another 600,000 spectators greeted the wedding procession on the streets of London, all the way to St. Paul's Cathedral. On that day, the territory of Westminster Abbey barely accommodated everyone who wanted to take part in this historic event.

Princess Diana's wedding. Chronicles

There were some incidents - a luxurious taffeta dress was badly wrinkled during a ride in a horse-drawn carriage and did not look the best. In addition, the bride, during the traditional speech at the altar, mixed up the order of the names of Prince Charles, which violated etiquette, and also did not swear to her future husband in eternal obedience. The royal press attachés pretended it was meant to be, permanently changing the text of the wedding vow for members of the British court.

Birth of heirs and problems in family life

After a solemn reception at Buckingham Palace, the newlyweds retired to the Broadlands estate, from where a few days later they went on a wedding cruise in the Mediterranean. When they returned, they settled at Kensington Palace in west London. The prince returned to his usual way of life, and Diana began to expect the appearance of her first child.

Officially, the pregnancy of the Princess of Wales was announced on November 5, 1981, this news caused rejoicing in English society, people were eager to see the heir to the royal dynasty.

Diana spent almost the entire pregnancy in the palace, gloomy and deserted. She was surrounded only by doctors and servants, her husband rarely went into her chambers, and the princess suspected something was wrong. She soon found out about his ongoing relationship with Camilla, which Charles did not even try to hide very much. The betrayal of her husband oppressed the princess, she suffered from jealousy and self-doubt, was almost always sad and depressed.

The birth of the first-born William (06/21/1982) and the second son Harry (09/15/1984) did not change anything in their relationship. Charles still sought comfort in the arms of his mistress, and Lady Di shed bitter tears, suffered from depression and bulimia, and drank handfuls of sedative pills.

The intimate life of the spouses practically came to naught, and the princess had no choice but to find herself another man. They became Captain James Hewitt, a former military man, courageous and sexy. In order to have a reason to see him without arousing suspicion, Diana began to take riding lessons.

James gave her what a woman could not get from her own husband - love, care and the joy of physical intimacy. Their romance lasted nine years, it became known in 1992 from the book Diana: Her True Story by Andrew Morton. Around the same time, records of intimate conversations between Charles and Camilla were made public, which inevitably led to a scandal in the royal family.

Diana and Charles divorce

The reputation of the British monarchy was under serious threat, protest moods were ripening in society, and it was necessary to urgently solve this problem. The situation was aggravated by the fact that Diana, in a little over ten years, became the darling of not only the British people, but also the world community, so many stood up for her and accused Charles of misbehavior.

At first, Diana's popularity played into the hands of the royal court. She was called the "queen of hearts", "the sun of Britain" and "the people's princess" and put on a par with Jacqueline Kennedy, Elizabeth Taylor and other great women of the twentieth century.

But over time, this universal love finally destroyed the marriage of Charles and Diana - the prince became jealous of his wife for her fame, and Lady Di, feeling the support of millions, began to boldly and confidently declare her rights. She decided to demonstrate to the whole world evidence of her husband's infidelities, told her story on a tape recorder and handed over the recordings to the press.

After that, Queen Elizabeth disliked Princess Diana, but the royal family could not stay away from the scandal, and on December 9, 1992, Prime Minister John Major officially announced the decision of Diana and Charles to live separately.

In November 1995, Lady Dee gave the BBC a sensational interview in which she spoke in detail about her suffering caused by her husband's infidelities, palace intrigues and other unworthy acts of members of the royal family.

Candid interview with Princess Diana (1995)

Charles responded by portraying her as a psychopath and hysterical and demanded an official divorce. The queen supported her son, appointed her former daughter-in-law a generous allowance, but deprived her of the title of Your Royal Highness. On August 28, 1996, the divorce proceedings were completed, and Diana again became a free woman.

last years of life

After her divorce from Charles, Lady Dee tried to arrange her personal life again in order to finally find female happiness. By that time, she had already parted with James Hewitt, suspecting him of hypocrisy and greed.

Diana really wanted to believe that men love her not only for her title, but also for her personal qualities, and Pakistani cardiac surgeon Hasnat Khan seemed to her like that. She fell in love with him without looking back, met his parents and even covered her head as a sign of respect for Muslim traditions.

It seemed to her that it was in the Islamic world that a woman is protected and surrounded by love and care, and this was exactly what she was looking for all her life. However, Dr. Khan understood that next to such a woman he would always be forced to remain on the sidelines, and was in no hurry with a marriage proposal.

In the summer of 1997, Diana accepted the invitation of the Egyptian billionaire Mohammed al-Fayed to relax on his yacht. An influential businessman, the owner of luxury real estate in London, wanted to get to know such a popular person better.

So that Diana would not be bored, he invited his son, film producer Dodi al-Fayed, to the yacht. Lady Dee at first considered this trip as a way to arouse jealousy in Dr. Khan, but she herself did not notice how she fell in love with the charming and courteous Dodi.

Tragic death of Princess Diana

On August 31, 1997, Lady Dee and her new lover died in a fatal accident in the center of Paris. Their car crashed into one of the pillars of the underground tunnel at breakneck speed, Dodi and driver Henri Paul died on the spot, and the princess died two hours later at the Salpêtrière clinic.

In the blood of the driver, they found an alcohol content several times higher than the permissible norm, in addition, the car was moving at great speed, trying to break away from the paparazzi chasing him.

The death of Diana was a huge shock to the world community and caused a lot of rumors and speculation. Many blamed the royal family for the death of the princess, believing that the British intelligence services set up this accident. Information appeared in the press that a man on a motorcycle blinded the driver with a laser in order to avoid Diana's pregnancy from a Muslim and the subsequent scandal. However, all this is from the field of conspiracy theories.

Funeral of Princess Diana

All of England mourned the death of the "People's Princess", because before that, not a single person of royal blood had been so loved by the common people. Under pressure from the public, Elizabeth was forced to interrupt her vacation in Scotland and give her former daughter-in-law the necessary honors.

Diana was buried on September 6, 1997 at the Spencer family estate in Althorp, Northamptonshire. Her grave is hidden from prying eyes on a secluded island in the middle of the lake, access to it is limited. Those wishing to honor the memory of the "People's Princess" can visit the memorial located near the burial place.

Reasons for universal love

Princess Diana enjoyed the support of the British, not only because she gave birth to two heirs and dared to publicize the vices of the crown prince. In many ways, this is the result of her charitable work.

For example, Diana became one of the first famous people to talk about the problem of AIDS. The disease was discovered in the early 80s, and even ten years later, little was known about the virus and how it spread. Not all doctors dared to contact those infected with HIV, fearing to catch a deadly disease.

But Diana was not afraid. She visited AIDS treatment centers without a mask and gloves, shook hands with the sick, sat on their bed, asked about their families, hugged and kissed. “HIV does not turn people into danger. You can shake hands with them and hug them, because only God knows how much they need it, ”the princess called.

Traveling around third world countries, Diana communicated with patients with leprosy: “When I met them, I always tried to touch them, hug them, to show that they are not outcasts, not outcasts.”

Having visited Angola in 1997 (there was a civil war going on there at that time), Diana walked through a field that had just been cleared of mines. No one guaranteed complete security - the likelihood that mines remained in the ground was very high. Returning to Britain, Diana launched an anti-mine campaign, urging the army to abandon this type of weapon. “Angola has the highest percentage of amputees. Think about it: one out of 333 Angolans lost a limb to mines.”

During her lifetime, Diana did not achieve "deminization", but her son, Prince Harry, continues her work. He is a patron of The HALO Trust, a charitable organization whose goal is to free the world from mines by 2025, that is, to neutralize all old shells and stop the production of new ones. Volunteers cleared mines in Chechnya, Kosovo, Abkhazia, Ukraine, Angola, Afghanistan.

In her native London, the princess regularly visited centers for the homeless and took Harry and William with her so that they could see the other side of life with their own eyes and learn compassion. Later, Prince William claimed that these visits were a revelation for him and he is grateful to his mother for this opportunity. After Diana's death, he became a patron of the charities she had previously supported.

At least three times a week, she went to children's hospices, where they kept children dying from oncology. Diana spent at least four hours with them. “Some will survive, others will die, but as long as they are alive, they need love. And I will love them,” said the princess.

Diana changed the face of the British monarchy. If earlier they were associated among the common people with yet another suffocating measures like raising taxes, then after her actions, as well as a 1995 BBC interview (“I would like monarchs to have more contact with the people”), the monarchy turned into a defender of the disadvantaged. After the tragic death of Lady Dee, her mission continued.

Ten years ago, the loudest car accident of the last century occurred. The legendary Lady Dee, an English princess, a woman symbol, died in a Paris tunnel (See the photo gallery “Princess Diana’s Life Story”). On August 27 and 28, the REN TV channel will show the documentary film "Purely English Murder". The authors conducted their own investigation and tried to find out whether this tragedy was an accident.

On August 31, 1997, at 0:27 a.m., a car carrying Princess Diana, her friend Dodi al-Fayed, driver Henri Paul and Diana's bodyguard Trevor Rees-Jones crashed into the 13th pillar of the bridge over the Alma Tunnel. Dodi and driver Henri Paul die on the spot. Princess Diana will die around 4 a.m. in the hospital.

Version 1) Killer paparazzi?

The first version expressed by the investigation: several reporters who traveled on motor scooters were to blame for the accident. They were chasing Diana's black Mercedes, and one of them may have interfered with the princess's car. The driver of the Mercedes, trying to avoid the collision, crashed into the concrete support of the bridge.

But, according to eyewitnesses, they entered the tunnel a few seconds after Diana's Mercedes, which means they could not provoke an accident.

Lawyer Virginie Bardet:

- In fact, there is no evidence of the guilt of the photographers. The judge said: "There is no sign of manslaughter in the actions of the photographers that led to the death of Diana, Dodi al-Fayed, Henri Paul and the disability of Trevor Rees-Jones."

Version 2) Mysterious "Fiat Uno"

The investigation puts forward a new version: the cause of the accident is a car, which by that time was already in the tunnel. In the immediate vicinity of the crashed Mercedes, detective police found fragments of a Fiat Uno.

Jacques Mules, head of the detective police brigade: “The fragments of the rear light and paint particles that we found allowed us to calculate all the characteristics of the Fiat Uno within 48 hours.

When interviewing eyewitnesses, the police allegedly found out that a white Fiat Uno, a few seconds after the accident, zigzagged out of the tunnel. Moreover, the driver did not look at the road, but in the rear-view mirror, as if he saw something, for example, a crashed car.

The detective police determined the exact characteristics of the car, its color and year of manufacture. But even with information about the car and a description of the appearance of the driver, the investigation failed to find either the car or the driver.

Francis Gilleri, author of his own independent investigation: “All cars of this brand in the country were checked, but none of them showed signs of a similar collision. White "Fiat Uno" fell through the ground! And the eyewitnesses of the accident, who saw him, began to get confused in the testimony, from which it did not become clear whether the white Fiat was at the scene of the tragedy at the unfortunate moment.

Interestingly, the version about the white Fiat that allegedly caused the accident, as well as the information about the left turn signal found at the scene of the tragedy, was not made public immediately, but only two weeks after the incident.

Version 3) British intelligence services

Only today, details are becoming known, which for some reason it was customary not to mention. As soon as the black Mercedes drove into the tunnel, suddenly a bright flash of light cut the twilight. It is so powerful that everyone who watched it was blinded for a few seconds. And in a moment the screech of brakes and the sound of a terrible blow blow up the silence of the night. François Laviste at that time was just leaving the tunnel and was only a few meters from the scene of the tragedy. First, the investigation accepted his testimony, and then recognized the only witness as unreliable.

The version was circulated at the suggestion of former MI6 officer Richard Thomplison. The former agent said that the circumstances of the death of Princess Diana remind him of a plan to assassinate Slobodan Milosevic, developed by the British intelligence services. The Yugoslav president was about to be blinded in a tunnel by a powerful flash.

The cops are reluctant to put the flash of light on the record. Eyewitnesses are nervous and insist on the veracity of their testimony. And a few months later, British and French newspapers published a sensational statement by former British intelligence agent Richard Tomplison that the latest laser weapons that are in service with the special services may have been used in the Alma Tunnel.

Again "on stage" "Fiat Uno"

But how could fragments of a car appear at the scene of the incident, which will never be found? The media version - the fragments of the Fiat were thrown by those who prepared this accident in advance and wanted to disguise it as an ordinary accident. The press insists that these are British intelligence agencies.

The secret services knew that the white Fiat would definitely be next to Princess Diana's car that night. It was on the white Fiat that one of the most famous and successful paparazzi of Paris, James Andanson, moved. He could not miss such an opportunity to make money on the pictures of the star couple of interest to everyone ...

The media suggested that they simply could not prove the involvement of the photographer and his car in the accident, although they really hoped. Andanson was indeed in the tunnel that night. True, according to some of his colleagues who were on the evening of August 30, 1997 at the Ritz Hotel, it was a rare case when a photographer arrived at work without a car. And, perhaps, that is why the version developed by someone about Andanson's guilt in the accident lost its central link even before Dodi and Diana left the hotel. On the other hand, Andanson could indeed have been involved in the accident. He repeatedly came to the attention of the al-Fayed family's security forces, and for them, of course, it was no secret that Andersen was not only a successful photographer. Evidence that the photographer is a British intelligence agent was allegedly obtained by al-Fayed's security service. But Father Dodi, for some reason, now does not consider it necessary to present them to the investigation. James Andanson was not an accidental figure in this tragedy.

Andanson was seen in the tunnel, and there he really was one of the first. We saw at the scene of the tragedy a car very similar to his car, however, with different numbers, possibly fake ones.

And then there are the unanswered questions. Why did the photographer, who spent several hours at the Ritz Hotel for the sake of a sensational shot, suddenly not waiting for Diana and Dodi al-Fayed, for no reason left his post and went straight to the tunnel. After the accident, Andanson, without even waiting for the denouement, when a crowd had just begun to gather in the tunnel, suddenly disappears. Literally in the middle of the night - at 4 o'clock in the morning - he leaves Paris on the next flight to Corsica.

Some time later, in the French Pyrenees, his body will be found in a burned-out car. While the police are establishing the identity of the deceased, in the office of his Parisian photo agency, unknown people steal all the papers, pictures and computer disks related to the death of Princess Diana.

If this is not a fatal coincidence, then Andanson was eliminated either as an unwanted witness or as the perpetrator of the murder.

In September 1999, another reporter died in one of the hospitals in Paris, who was on that ill-fated night next to a mangled black Mercedes. Reporter James Keith was preparing for minor knee surgery but told friends, "I have a hunch I'm not coming back." After being discharged from the hospital, the reporter was going to publish documents about the causes of the accident at the Alma Bridge, but a few hours after his death, the Internet web page with the details of the investigations, and all materials were destroyed.

Who turned off the cameras?

The police officers working at the scene decide to attach the recordings of road surveillance cameras to the case. It is from them that you can accurately determine how the accident occurred and how many cars were in the tunnel at the time of the collision. The called workers of the road service do not understand why there is such a rush, and only wonder why the films cannot be viewed tomorrow morning. But when they open the boxes in which the video cameras are mounted, they are even more surprised. The video surveillance system, which works properly in all other points of Paris, by a strange coincidence, it was in the Alma tunnel that it failed. Who or what was the reason, one can only guess.

Version 4) Drunk driver

On July 5, 1999, almost two years later, newspapers from all over the world publish a sensational statement from the investigation: the main blame for what happened in the Alma tunnel lies with the driver of the Mercedes, Henri Paul. He was the security chief of the Ritz Hotel and also died in the crash. Investigators accuse him of driving drunk.

Michael Cowell, al-Fayed's official spokesman: "It was officially announced that he was driving at a speed of 180 km/h. Very fast. Now, in the file, it is written in small print: “The accident occurred at a speed of 60 (!) kilometers per hour.” Not 180 km/h, but 60!”

The statement that the driver was drunk came out of the blue. To prove or disprove this, you just need to take the blood of the deceased for analysis. However, it is this simple operation that will turn into a real detective.

Jacques Mules, who was the first of the representatives of the investigating authorities to arrive at the scene of the tragedy, said that a blood test showed the true state of affairs, which means that Henri Paul was really very drunk.

Jacques Mules, head of the detective police brigade: “Before leaving the Ritz, Princess Diana and Dodi al-Fayed were nervous. But the main thing that indicates an accident is the presence of alcohol - 1.78 ppm in the blood of the driver, Mr. Henri Paul. In addition, he took antidepressants, which also affected his driving style.”

Michael Cowell, al-Fayed's official speaker: “The footage proves that Henri Paul behaved adequately in the hotel that evening, he is talking to Dodi at this distance, talking to Diana. If there were even the slightest sign of intoxication, Dodi, and he was very picky in this regard, would not have gone anywhere. He would have fired him."

To have so much alcohol in the blood, Henri Paul had to drink about 10 glasses of wine. Such intoxication could not help but notice the photographers located at the hotel, but not one of them pointed out this in their testimony.

The examination data, indicating a state of severe intoxication, were ready within 24 hours after the autopsy. But this was officially announced only two years later. For 24 months, the investigation worked out a deliberately weaker version of the guilt of the paparazzi or the presence of Fiat Uno. And two years later, it is unlikely that anyone who saw the hotel security chief Henri Paul that evening will be able to say with certainty whether he was completely sober.

A day after the accident, toxicologists Gilbert Pepin and Dominique Lecomte had just completed a blood test on Henri Paul. The test tubes are placed first in the box and then in the refrigerator. The results are recorded in the protocol. According to what is written, the driver can be considered not just a little drunk, but simply drunk ... But the numbers written in the column below are even more surprising: the level of carbon monoxide is 20.7%. If this is true, the driver simply would not be able to stand on his feet, let alone drive. Only a person who committed suicide by inhaling gases from the exhaust pipe of a car could have in his blood such an amount of carbon monoxide that was found in Paul's blood ...

Michael Cowell, al-Fayed's official spokesman: "It's more than likely that either accidentally or deliberately, the blood samples were swapped. Somehow they got confused. In the morgue there were many errors with tags, which has been proven to date ... "

The French secret services also have something to hide in this story. Due to the fact that the rest of the corpses still cannot be found, it is no longer so important whether the test tubes were changed by accident or it was a specially prepared action. Something else is important. Someone really needed the investigation to go on as long as possible. To make it as confusing as possible. Test tubes with the blood of Henri Paul could well be replaced with the blood of another person who committed suicide.

For a long time, the investigating authorities insisted that there could be no mistake. It is indeed the blood of Henri Paul. However, the film crew of the REN TV channel, as a result of their own investigation, managed to prove that the blood, in which traces of alcohol and carbon monoxide were found, does not belong to the driver of Princess Diana.

Jacques Muhles, head of the detective police brigade, admitted to our film crew that he took the test tubes with the blood of Henri Paul with his own hands and really mixed up the numbers, giving a test tube with the blood of a completely different person under the name of the driver of Princess Diana.

Jacques Mules, head of the detective police brigade. “This is my mistake. The fact is that I worked two days in a row, I did not sleep at night. Due to fatigue, I mixed up the numbers of the test tubes. I immediately informed the judge about this, but he said that it was not significant.

It does not matter if the error was immediately corrected. And if not? If, due to a simple oversight or - even worse - deliberately, the results of the analysis remained falsified? There is still no answer to this question.

Who is Henri Paul?

Henri Paul, head of security at the Ritz Hotel, is the only official culprit behind the tragedy. In the reports of the investigation, he appears as a complete neurasthenic and drunkard. Taxi experts point to the presence in the blood of Henri Paul, along with alcohol, also a significant amount of antidepressants. The doctor confirms that she prescribed Paul drugs to treat depression. And to reduce cravings for alcohol, because, according to the doctor, the patient abused alcohol.

We decided to check if the head of security at the luxury hotel was actually an alcoholic and a drug addict.

Cafe-restaurant "Le Grand Colbert". Henri Paul used to come here for dinner for many years.

Restaurant owner Joel Fleuri: “I bought the restaurant in 1992. Henri Paul was already a regular here... He was here every week. No, he was not an alcoholic. It turned out that we are engaged in the same flying club - he flies on light aircraft, I fly on light helicopters.

On the eve of the tragedy, Henri Paul, in order to renew his flying license, undergoes a rigorous medical examination. The doctor examines him and takes blood for tests the day before the disaster.

Doctors did not find any signs of latent alcoholism in Henri, nor traces of any medications.

After the death of Henri Paul, very large sums of money were found in his account, which, in theory, he could not earn. In total, he had 1.2 million francs.

Boris Gromov, intelligence historian: “Henri Paul, according to some British intelligence officers, was a full-time agent of MI6. His name was often mentioned in the dossier of this service. It is clear that there is nothing accidental here, and its role is clear. Because high-ranking statesmen from various countries often stay at the Ritz Hotel ... And serving as the head of the security service there is extremely beneficial for any intelligence ... "

40 minutes before the tragedy, Princess Diana does not yet know that it will not be Dodi's personal bodyguard Ken Wingfield who will be driving their car, but the head of the hotel's security service, Henri Paul.

According to the version that the investigation initially had, his car turned out to be faulty. And so the couple set off in Henri Paul's car. However, eight years later, Wingfield stated that his car was serviceable. It was just that Henri Paul, as head of the hotel's security, ordered Wingfield to stay behind and drove Diana and Dodi on his own in his car and along a different route. Why was Wingfield silent for so many years? What was he afraid of?

Diana's security guard Trevor Rhys-Jones, leaving the Ritz, sat down in his usual place - the seat next to the driver, which is called the "place of the dead." Due to the fact that during an accident it is most vulnerable. But Rhys-Jones survived. And Diana and Dodi al-Fayed, who were in the back seat, died. Today, the only survivor can't say anything about what happened in the tunnel. He has lost his memory and does not remember anything that would shed light on the events of that night. We can only hope that in time Rhys-Jones will recover. But whether he will have time to say everything that he remembers is unknown ...

Dodi al-Fayed's bodyguard has been on the operating table for a long time. And despite the more severe injury, the doctors no longer doubted: the patient would live. At the same time, for some reason, they are trying to save Princess Diana in an ambulance.

The car is standing. It is impossible to do procedures in motion. In fact, according to experts.

Diana Francis Spencer, Her Highness the Princess of Wales, was born on July 1, 1961 in Norfolk to an English aristocratic family. Her father, John Spencer, the bearer of the title of Viscount Althorp, came from the ancient Spencer-Churchill family, carriers of royal blood descended from Charles II, who became famous as the "jolly king". Charles had 14 recognized illegitimate sons who received the title, a large number of unrecognized children and not a single heir born in an official marriage. However, thanks to this king, the list of aristocratic families of England has noticeably expanded.

The dynasty to which Princess Diana belonged can be proud of such eminent sons as Sir and the Duke of Marlborough. The ancestral property of the Spencer family is Spencer House, located in the Westminster quarter in central London. Diana's mother Francis Shand Kydd also comes from an aristocratic family. Diana's maternal grandmother was a lady-in-waiting to Queen Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon.

The biography of the future princess was also beyond claims. The future Princess Diana received her primary education at Sandringham, where she spent her childhood. Lady Dee's first teacher was Gertrude Allen, a governess who had previously taught the girl's mother. Diana received her further education at the private Sealfield School, and later studied at Riddlesworth Hall. As a child, the character of the future princess was not difficult, but she was always quite stubborn.

According to the recollections of teachers, the girl read and drew well, dedicating her drawings to her mother and father. Diana's parents divorced when she was 8 years old, which was a great shock for the child. As a result of the divorce proceedings, Diana stayed with her father, and her mother left for Scotland, where she lived with her new husband.

The next place of study for the future Princess of Wales is the privileged school for girls West Hill in Kent. Here, Diana did not show herself as a diligent student, and music and dancing became her passion, and, according to rumors, in her youth, Lady Di was not given the exact sciences, and she even failed her exams several times.

In 1977, Diana and Prince Charles met in Althorp, but at that time the future spouses did not pay serious attention to each other. In the same year, Diana studies in Switzerland for a short time, but returns home due to strong homesickness. After graduation, Diana began working as a nanny and kindergarten teacher in the prestigious Knightsbridge area of ​​London.

Prince Charles and the wedding

In 1980, Diana again falls into the circle of friends of Prince Charles. The bachelor life of the heir to the throne at that time was a serious cause for concern for his parents. Queen Elizabeth was especially worried about her son's relationship with a noble married lady, with whom the prince did not even try to hide his relationship. In this situation, the candidacy of Diana Spencer for the role of princess was happily approved by the royal family, Charles and, according to some rumors, even Camilla Parker-Bowles.

The prince invited Diana first to the royal yacht, after which an invitation was received to Balmoral Castle to meet the royal family. Charles proposed at Windsor Castle, but the engagement was kept secret for some time. The official announcement took place on February 24, 1981. The symbol of this event was the famous ring of Princess Diana - a precious sapphire surrounded by fourteen diamonds.

Lady Di became the first English woman in 300 years to marry the heir to the throne.

The wedding of Prince Charles and Diana Spencer has become the most expensive wedding ceremony in British history. The celebration took place at St. Paul's Cathedral in London on July 29, 1981. The wedding ceremony was preceded by a parade through the streets of London by a carriage with members of the royal family, a march of the Commonwealth regiments and the "Glass Carriage", in which Diana and her father arrived.

Prince Charles was dressed in the dress uniform of Commander of Her Majesty's Navy. Diana wore a £9,000 gown with an 8m train designed by young English designers Elizabeth and David Emanuel. The design of the dress was kept in the strictest confidence from the public and the press, the dress was delivered to the palace in a sealed envelope. The head of the future princess was decorated with a family heirloom - a tiara.

Diana and Charles' wedding has been called the "fairytale wedding" and the "wedding of the century". According to experts, the audience watching the live broadcast of the celebrations on the world's main TV channels amounted to more than 750 million people. After a formal dinner at Buckingham Palace, the couple took the royal train to the Broadlands estate before flying to Gibraltar, from where Charles and Princess Diana began their Mediterranean cruise. At the end of the cruise, another reception was given in Scotland, where members of the press were given permission to photograph the newlyweds.

The wedding celebrations cost taxpayers nearly £3 million.

Divorce

The personal life of the crowned family was not so fabulous and soon attracted the attention of the public with several scandals, in which, according to the press, various lovers and mistresses constantly appeared. According to rumors, even at the time of the marriage proposal from Charles, Diana was aware of his relationship with Camilla Parker-Bowles. Subsequently, it became increasingly difficult for the princess to restrain jealousy and protect the reputation of the family, since Prince Charles not only did not interrupt the extramarital affair, but also openly admitted it. The situation was complicated by the fact that in the person who took the side of her son in this conflict, Princess Diana received an influential opponent.

In 1990, the delicate situation could no longer be hidden, and this situation received wide publicity. During this period, Princess Diana also confesses her relationship with the riding coach James Hewitt.

In 1995, according to rumors, Diana met her true love. While visiting a friend in the hospital, the princess accidentally met the heart surgeon Hasnat Khan. The feelings were mutual, but the constant attention of the public, from which the couple even fled to Khan's homeland, Pakistan, and the active condemnation of Khan's parents, both his role as the princess's de facto lover, and the freedom-loving views of the woman herself, did not allow the novel to develop and, perhaps, deprived a chance for the happiness of two people who are truly in love.

At the insistence of Queen Elizabeth, Charles and Diana officially divorced in 1996, four years after the actual breakup of their family. Married to Prince Charles, two sons were born: Welsh and Welsh.

After the divorce, Diana, according to journalists, begins a relationship with a film producer, the son of the Egyptian billionaire Dodi al-Fayed. Officially, this connection was not confirmed by any of the close friends of the princess, and in a book written by Diana's butler, the fact of their relationship is directly denied.

Doom

On August 31, 1997, Princess Diana was killed in a car accident. During Diana's visit to Paris, the car, in the cabin of which, in addition to the princess herself, were Dodi al-Fayed, bodyguard Trevor Rhys Jones and driver Henri Paul, passing through the tunnel under the Alma Bridge, collided with a concrete support. The driver and Dodi al-Fayed died instantly at the scene. Princess Diana died two hours later at the Salpêtrière hospital. The princess's bodyguard survived, but received severe head injuries, as a result of which he does not remember anything about the moment of the accident itself.

Princess Diana's wrecked car

The death of Princess Diana was a shock not only for the people of Great Britain, but for the whole world. In France, mourners have turned a Paris copy of the torch of the Statue of Liberty into a spontaneous memorial to Diana. The funeral of the princess took place on 6 September. Lady Dee's grave is on a secluded island at Althorp Manor (the Spencer family estate) in Northamptonshire.

Among the causes of the car accident, many factors are called, starting with the version according to which the princess's car tried to break away from the paparazzi car chasing them, and ending with the version regarding. Until now, there are many rumors and theories about the causes of death of the beloved princess.

A Scotland Yard report published ten years later confirmed the fact of a two-fold excess of the speed allowed for movement on the road section under the Alma Bridge, discovered during the investigation, as well as the presence of alcohol in the driver’s blood, which exceeded the allowable rate three times.

Memory

Princess Diana enjoyed the sincere love of the people of Great Britain, who affectionately called her Lady Dee. The princess did a lot of charity work, donating significant funds to various foundations, was an activist in the movement seeking a ban on anti-personnel mines, and provided people with material and moral assistance.

Sir dedicated the song “Candle in the Wind” to her memory, and the song “Privacy”, in which he not only expressed grief for the princess, but also talked about the burden of constant attention and gossip, which, perhaps, is indirectly to blame for the death of Lady Dee.

10 years after the death, a film was made dedicated to the last hours of the life of the princess. Songs, "Depeche mode" and "Aquarium" are dedicated to her. Postage stamps are issued in her honor in many countries of the world.

According to a BBC poll, Princess Diana is one of the most popular faces in British history, ahead of other English monarchs in this ranking.

Awards

• Royal Family Order of Queen Elizabeth II
• Grand Cross of the Order of the Crown
• Order of Virtue Special Class

The people's princess, the third of a hundred in the list of the greatest Britons in history - Princess Diana - enjoyed the boundless love of her subjects. She was idolized, she was envied, because the scenario of her life resembled a fairy tale: a kind and beautiful girl married a real prince and settled with him in the palace ... Only the heroes of a real fairy tale did not succeed in living happily ever after. The story was ideal only from the outside, and ended with the death of the one who was sympathized with in this pair the most.

Diana died in a car accident on August 31, 1997 in Paris, and this year, on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the tragic event, the princess is remembered with special trepidation. We have prepared material about the versions of what happened, which appeared at different times and excited the minds of the fans of the princess. And you can learn more about the life and death of the Queen of Hearts from the new documentary "Princess Diana: Tragedy or Conspiracy", which will be shown from August 29 to 31 at 22:00 on TLC.

Misalliance and adultery - these two words haunted Charles and Diana throughout their entire family life. According to contemporaries, Miss Spencer, despite her noble birth, did not have a brilliant mind and was rather hasty in her decisions, one of which later completely changed her fate. For the first time, Diana met Charles 20 years before her death: in 1977, he came to hunt at the Spencer family estate, Althorp House, at the invitation of her father. The prince already had the glory of a heartthrob, but Diana was only 16 and Charles was not interested in her, and she herself had no time for novels: the future princess was preparing to enter college.

Princess Diana, 1980

The marriage of a 19-year-old lover of tabloid novels and a mature 33-year-old man, passionate about another woman, was initially doomed to failure: behind a perfect glossy facade, there were suicide attempts, mutual betrayals, tantrums and eating disorders, which would become known only years later. Diana called her marriage "popular", meaning her husband's love for Camilla Parker-Bowles, who later became his second wife. It is betrayal that supporters of the "conspiracy theory" call the cause of the death of the princess: biographers testify that Diana cheated on her husband at least ten times and the royal family did not forgive her for this.

The accident is just a staging

On August 31, 1997, when Lady Dee's Mercedes crashed into a pillar of the Alma Tunnel in Paris, the cameras were not working there, although the equipment was working on the rest of the city's roads. This is just one of many mysteries and oddities surrounding the deaths of driver Henri Paul, Diana and her lover Dodi Al-Fayed, whom the press still awkwardly refers to as a "friend". According to one version, the personal bodyguard of the Egyptian producer Ken Wingfield, and not Henri Paul, head of security at the Ritz Hotel, where the lovers spent the last evening of their lives together, should have been behind the wheel. Dodi and Diana did not manage to be alone - the couple was besieged by a crowd of paparazzi, and Paul dispersed the car three times more than is allowed when driving through the tunnel in order to break away from annoying reporters on motorcycles.

The driver lost control due to a difficult traffic situation - this version looks much more plausible than many mysteries related to the accident, but a considerable number of people believe that everything that happened that night on the Seine embankment is nothing more than a staging. Thus, the lovers decided simply once and for all to avoid the attention of strangers to their personal lives, which more than fell to their lot. All this, perhaps, could sound plausible, if you do not take into account the personal investigation of Dodi's father, Mohammed Al-Fayed, who is still unsuccessfully trying to find out how his son died.

Dodi Al Fayed and Princess Diana

Blame the driver

The driver, Henri Paul, was unknown to anyone before the accident. But after the incident, there were those who called him a pawn in the game of the powerful, an MI6 agent who set up an accident, a drug addict who took a horse dose of antidepressants, and a drunkard who got behind the wheel after drinking at least three bottles of wine. Fields were considered the culprit of the accident and cursed for the death of the people's favorite, until it turned out that the head of the French investigators, Jacques Mules, who was investigating the case, confused the test tubes with blood in the laboratory from fatigue. In addition, people who knew Henri denied both drunkenness and drug addiction - although the judges did not consider this evidence of the driver's innocence, nor Mules's confession of substitution.

Diana's car after the accident

Soldier N

It was no coincidence that Diana died in an accident on the Seine embankment - she was killed, and not by anyone, but by the British intelligence services. Such a sensational version of the cause of Lady Di's death stirred up the world media 16 years after the tragedy. A certain military man, who was called Soldier N in the press, was put on trial for illegal possession of a weapon, as his ex-wife willingly told the jury. She also told that the ex-husband had repeatedly told their daughter that Diana was killed according to the plan of the SAS - the Special Air Service of Great Britain, and he himself participated in this.

The Crown did not react in any way and did not give comments, although other people put forward this version, including former MI6 intelligence officer Richard Tomplison. In his scandalous autobiographical book, he stated that the accident that killed Diana followed exactly the same scenario as the plan to assassinate Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic in 1992. By the way, the version with Soldier N also appears in the film "Unlawful Murder" by British director Keith Allen, after which another scandal erupted at the Cannes Film Festival, but the mystery of Diana's death was never revealed.

Ghost rider

One of the main mysteries in the story that happened that night in Paris is the white Fiat Uno, which was allegedly seen at the site of Diana's death a couple of minutes before the accident. Versions are put forward different: it could be an unknown agent of British intelligence, who set up a tragic road accident, and the famous Parisian paparazzi James Andanson, who tracked Diana and Dodi back at the Ritz. The photographer did have a white Fiat, but his wife stated that James left the car at home that night. Fragments of a broken turn signal and white paint from the body of the car were found at the scene of the accident, but after a large-scale inspection, no white Fiats with similar damage could be found.

It was also not possible to find out either the reasons for Andanson's hasty flight from France to Corsica even before Lady Di died in the Salpêtrière hospital, nor the reasons for his subsequent death. Some time after the accident in Paris, Andanson was found in the Pyrenees sitting in a car with a gunshot wound in his head, and all his working tapes and notes disappeared from the agency for which he worked. What killed him is still unknown for sure - it was assumed that the photographer committed suicide, but no tool was found next to him that would confirm this version.

Princess Diana and Dodi Al Fayed

Order of the royal family

There will be no second Diana in the Windsor family - at least as long as Elizabeth II is alive. They say that she personally chooses the names for all the heirs of the family, and in particular did not approve of the desire of her grandson, Prince William, to name her future daughter after her mother. The Queen told William and Kate Middleton in no uncertain terms that one Lady Di of England was enough, and as a result, the young princess became Charlotte Elizabeth, and Diana is only her third name, which is mentioned very rarely. The queen's dislike of the status quo of the monarchy is justified: no one in modern history has caused as many scandals around Kensington Palace as Diana of Wales.

Her conflict with Charles, at first hidden behind the doors of Kensington Palace, over 15 years of marriage has turned into a battle open to the whole world. Diana told reporters about her failed marriage, and Charles in his interviews promised never to leave Camilla. After the publication of the memoirs of the former butler of Lady Dee Paul Burrell, the spreading horns above the prince's head loomed especially clearly: journalists began to write one after another that Harry might not be the son of Charles, but the red-haired jockey James Hewitt, with whom Diana also had an affair. This has not been proven, but it is known for sure that Elizabeth and Philip were very angry with their daughter-in-law both for this story and for her other adventures, which Diana did not even try to hide, and certainly did not even want to indirectly intermarry with the Egyptians, despite their impeccable reputation and multi-billion dollar fortune.

Princess Diana and James Hewitt

Mohammed Al-Fayed calls the attitude of the royal family towards his son Dodi racism and hypocrisy. According to him, they did not even want to imagine that a native of Egypt, besides a Muslim, could become a kind of stepfather for the heirs to the throne, not to mention the fact that the princes could have an adoptive brother or sister. It is the possible pregnancy of Diana that is called another reason for her death: the Windsors allegedly could not allow this and involved British intelligence in the case in order to kill the pregnant daughter-in-law by proxy.

Whatever actually caused the death of Diana, Dodi Al-Fayed and Henri Paul, this accident went down in world history, like the whole life of the Princess of Wales - a woman who was just looking for love, like everyone else. There really won’t be a second one like this in the royal family: 2.5 billion people watched Diana’s funeral live, another 3 million, sobbing, listened to Elton John’s singing and followed the coffin through the streets of London. So many flowers were brought to the palace that they had to be distributed to hospitals and nursing homes - the queen of hearts, who had been involved in charity all her life, and after her death made a farewell gift to her subjects.