Pathologist reveals 'tiny, rare' injury killed Princess Diana. On the way, paramedics examined the wounded princess and found her condition grave. Conspiracy theories have grown up around the dead Princess like the thorns around Sleeping Beauty's castle, and it remains to be seen whether the memory of what he saw late on 31 August 1997 will inspire Mr Burgess to hack through them. Perhaps it's no surprise that evidence of her death was similarly capturedbut it's certainly shocking. Harry and William were 12 years old and 15 years old respectively when their mother, Diana, died. Why Did James Corden Leave The Late Late Show? The basic facts of the case - the implausibility of a professional assassination being organised in that place at that time in that way, on a day when Diana and Dodi changed their plans hourly - are rarely recalled. He sat down on the edge of the bed, Harry wrote. Diana: The crash, the 'cover-up' and the coroner The horror scene where I found Diana dying, by the first man at Paris crash. When she suffered a cardiac arrest, every effort was made to resuscitate her and in hospital she went into surgery, where they did identify the problem and attempted to repair the vein. Diana suffered several injuries in the crash. We pay for your stories! The only survivor of the crash was Dianas British bodyguard, Trevor Rees-Jones. Princess Diana's death shook the entire world. - Parade But also, part of it maybe [felt like] this is all part of a plan, he said. Heres what you need to know. When Richardson and Luz ran into the tunnel, they saw the car facing back in the direction from which it had come, its roof crushed, its windshield smashed and its air bags deployed. To her side Dodi Fayed is hunched forward in his seat. He had been wearing a seatbelt. Because I cant begin to imagine what it must have been like for her [Diana] going through this process by herself all those years ago. HBOs new documentary The Princess explores Dianas life and legacy using archival footage. She never regained consciousness. , Dr. Frederic Mailliez, an EMT who had been driving through the tunnel at the ime of the crash, told her that Diana woke up in pain from the crash. A young admirer of the late Diana, Princess of Wales outside the gates of Buckingham Palace, August 31, 1997. I wish I could say she would have died whatever happened, but the fact is, if she had worn her seatbelt she would have been here for Prince William and Harry's weddings, he told the Daily Mail. She became agitated, then lowered her head and closed her eyes., In Dr. Richard Shepherds 2019 book, Unnatural Causes, the top British forensic pathologist revealed that Diana died of a small, badly placed tear in the vein of her lung. In an interview on CBS Oprah With Meghan and Harry: A CBS Primetime Special in March 2021, Harry opened up about how he feared that Dianas death will repeat itself with him or his wife, Meghan Markle, which is the reason he moved his family from London to America in 2019, My biggest concern was history repeating itself, Harry told Oprah referencing his Princess Dianas death. Why Trust Us? In the 2021 Apple TV+ documentary The Me You Can't See, Prince Harry speaks about the anger he felt about the fallout of his mother's death. Her specific injury is so rare that in my entire career I dont believe Ive seen another, Shepherd wrote in his book. For years conspiracies have swirled as to whether Diana's death was an inside job. . "Her specific injury is so rare that in my entire career I don't believe I've seen another. Just inside the 660-ft. tunnel, the car struck the concrete divider that separates the eastbound lanes from the westbound and then apparently cartwheeled, rolling over a full 360 and spinning around nearly 180. This picture dated 21 August 1997 shows the wreckage of Princess Dianas car in the Alma tunnel of Paris. "Veins, of course, are not subject to the same high-pressure pumping as arteries. Her death arrived early that morning, several hours after the crash that also killed Dodi al Fayed and driver Henri Paul (who, it was determined, had been intoxicated). They denied official claims that the picture had been taken seconds after the princess and her lover had left the Ritz Hotel and insisted it was snapped well into their journey. Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? More than ten years after her death in a high speed crash in Paris they bring back with startling clarity the fantastic efforts to keep Diana alive. But, sadly, by then it was too late. According to our source, the evidence that Diana was pregnant is somewhere in the medical papers now with Mr Burgess. This particular phase in my life is the most dangerous. However, in not immediately addressing a nation in mourning, the queenand the royal familywere criticized for being aloof. Dying Princess Diana Photo Shown in New Documentary at - ABC News This is understandable. Beside him the driver Henri Paul - accused by police of being drunk - stares twistedly, almost mockingly, at the camera. Pathologist reveals 'tiny, rare' injury killed Princess Diana - ZB Meghan Markle was among the young women deeply affected by Dianas death. Princess Diana died in the early hours of August 31, 1997, after her car crashed in the Pont de lAlma tunnel in Paris, France, following a chase from the paparazzi. After she married Prince Charles, the eldest of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philips four children, in July 1981, Diana Spencers entire life became tabloid fodder, from marital intrigue to their divorce and its aftermath. The look of love! Pathologically there was no evidence that Princess Diana was pregnant, but some women say they know they're pregnant from the moment of conception. It contains the results of the two tests made on M. Paul's blood, which found that he had taken large quantities of alcohol, as well as anti-depressant drugs. Harry stepped back from his duties as a royal in 2020. The jury can include members of the Royal Family, although this is rare because, under the coroner's rules, members of the jury are not allowed to be related to the deceased either by blood or through marriage. It took only minutes for the Paris police to arrive, cordoning off the area with red- and-white crime-scene tape and leaving the lights of their cruisers flashing as they rushed into the tunnel. Khan, after her death, told police that "we once went to the pub together and Diana asked if she could order the drinks because she had never done so before. Shepherd describes the injury and the location of the injury as something he's never seen in his decades as a pathologist and says it explains why Diana was initially conscious and able to communicate. Its believed that Diana and Fayed planned to travel to Fayeds private estate in Paris. The coroner's decision is final. After the accident, Queen Elizabeth chose to stay with Harry and William in Balmoral, Scotland, and was planning to return just before the funeral. She died the next morning at the hospital. Write to Lily Rothman at lily.rothman@time.com. According to the website, it will be updated daily throughout the inquest with exhibits - including photographs - that are shown to the jury. Six years later, Mr Burgess is the coroner poised to open inquests into the deaths of Diana and her companion, Dodi Fayed. Do not sell or share my personal information. So did the official French inquiry. X is planning 'an accident' in my car, brake failure and serious head injury in order to make the path clear for Charles to marry.. How Did Princess Diana Die? Facts About The Fatal Car Accident - Today There's a Rumor Joe Alwyn Cheated on Taylor Swift More than two decades after her death, there are still a lot of questions about how Princess Diana died and what her cause of death was. It is just seconds after the couple have left the back entrance of the Ritz Hotel on the fatal journey to Dodi's Paris apartment and provides the last known picture of Diana alive. A witness told the Princess Diana inquest that he arrived at the crash scene to find the broken bodies of Dodi Fayed and driver Henri Paul. Those were some of the issues tackled in TIMEs special report the following week, which explained just what was known at that time to have happened: There was little sound for the first two minutes after the crash except for the hoarse wail of the mangled cars horn. His grim task was expected to fall to another. Not because of the feeble notion that it would support a murder theory - the senior police source in France who told us Diana was pregnant was also sure her death was accidental - but because a cover-up may help explain some of the puzzling events seized on by conspiracy theorists. The Paparazzi Photos. A senior police source in France told us that the Princess - contrary to the official version and the statements of her friends - was pregnant when she died. The file consists of more than 300 witness statements, taken by the 30 detectives who worked on the case for two years (interviews with witnesses at the scene; with the photographers; with medical staff; with employees of the Ritz hotel, which the couple had just left; with friends and family of the driver, Henri Paul; and with the two British bodyguards who were travelling with the couple). We may earn commission from links on this page, but we only recommend products we back. The pictures showed the reflection of a group of photographers taking photographs through the window and the reflection on the window was them., During the interview, Harry also thanked his private secretary and advisor at the time for not allowing him to see more gruesome images of his mother dead. See more about. Hearst Magazine Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved. But he and others who see dark forces at work are unlikely to get much satisfaction when the inquest into Diana's death is opened by Mr Burgess at 10.30am on Tuesday in the Fleming Room of the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre in Westminster. The investigation found that he was solely responsible for the accident. Although she was said to have been alert following the accident, she went into cardiac arrest a short while . Clarity of thought, says the Home Office, allied to compassion; commitment to public service; the ability to counsel the bereaved and work harmoniously with police, doctors, undertakers, registrars, politicians, inspectors and the media; a knack for calming tense situations and reassuring nervous witnesses; an understanding of the importance of each inquest to the bereaved. But I think that the family were somewhat slow, perhaps, to recognize the need to step forward in their public role of showing leadership for the country in its grief about the death of the princess., Eventually, on September 9, 1997, the queen addressed the nation in her first live broadcast since the Gulf War in 1991. She was an exceptional and gifted human being. A scene of desolation and horror is captured in the seconds after the crash. So he was held by the belt and partially padded by the car's airbag, which by now had inflated, as Diana's body catapulted forward from the back seat. Giving evidence, former bodyguard Trevor Rees explained that he . .css-ssumvd{display:block;font-family:Gilroy,Helvetica,Arial,Sans-serif;font-size:1.0625rem;font-weight:bold;line-height:1.25;margin-bottom:0;margin-top:0;-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;}@media (any-hover: hover){.css-ssumvd:hover{color:link-hover;}}@media(min-width: 40.625rem){.css-ssumvd{letter-spacing:0rem;margin-top:0.9375rem;}}Gayle King Is Showcasing Women Making Waves, Your Complete Guide to the Bridgerton Family, Jada Pinkett Smiths Red Table Talk Is Canceled, Oprah Wishes Carol Burnett a Happy 90th Birthday, Oprah and Mindy Kaling Are Producing a TV Show, Oprah and Michelle Obama Have a Netflix Special, Gayle Kings Pop Culture Must-See List for April, What We Know About The Little Mermaid Remake, The Details of Princess Dianas Deathand the Royal Familys Response, How The Crown's Actors Compare to the Royals, Will Says Diana's Death Was "a Pain Like No Other", Prince Harry Opens Up About Meghan and Diana, Archie's Christening Photo Honors Princess Diana, 9 Revelations from HBO Maxs Princess Diana Doc, Gordon Ramsay Talks Fondly of Princess Diana, Gayle King Is Showcasing Women Making Waves.