Sole survivor of car crash that killed Princess Diana addressed conspiracy theory
The only survivor of the car crash that killed Princess Diana 29 years ago today addressed a conspiracy theory about the tragedy.
Diana had been in a car with her partner Dodi Fayed and her head of security Henri Paul, as well as Dodi's bodyguard Trevor Rees-Jones.
Paul had been driving the car, a Mercedes-Benz S280, at a high speed through the Pont de l'Alma tunnel in Paris.
Nine journalists had been pursuing the car, which then crashed into a central column in the tunnel after Paul lost control, with Paul and Fayed killed on impact.
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Diana would die of a cardiac arrest in hospital at around 4am.
In the wake of the car crash Dodi Fayed's father Mohamed started to wonder whether the tragedy had been an accident at all, or whether his son and Diana had been targeted.
This included a conspiracy theory that Prince Philip had ordered the British secret services to assassinate Diana and Dodi to prevent their wedding.
The conspiracy even included claims of people in the crash feigning memory loss as part of the cover up, and Sky News reporting that he was then given a senior security role at the UN in return for 'his continued silence'.
Since then, Rees-Jones spoke out about the conspiracy theories surrounding the crash, having denied all the accusations.
In 2000, he told PEOPLE: “I’m not bitter at Mr. Al Fayed. Personally, I think he’s made himself look stupid with these attacks and the extraordinary claims he’s made."
He added: "But I’d be ashamed if I didn’t feel some sort of moral responsibility, you wouldn’t be human if you didn’t."
The security staffer then explained exactly what this was.
"It’s not so-called survivor’s guilt," he said. "It’s the fact that I was paid to look after Dodi and his guest, and they died on my shift. I’ve got this hanging over me for the rest of my life.”
Rees-Jones would also write a book about the tragedy, called The Bodyguard's Story, which was published in 2000.
Four years later in 2004 Operation Paget, which was the official investigation examining the conspiracy theories about Diana's death, found that Rees-Jones had not committed any wrongdoing, calling the incident a 'tragic accident'.
He is not the only person at the scene of the tragedy to have since spoken about it.
French firefighter Xavier Gourmelon was among the emergency responders at the scene, and opened up about what Diana said to him on Good Morning Britain years later, saying that he did not recognise Diana when he arrived at the scene.
He revealed that the words she spoke to him were 'Oh my God, what’s happened?'.
Diana would be buried on a small island in the middle of a lake on Althorp Estate in Northamptonshire, with trees allowed to grow out to conceal the memorial.
The isolation of her final resting place seemed a pointed rebuttal to the intense media attention Diana drew right up to her final moments.
A spokesperson for the estate previously said that the island has been allowed to grow, and 'intentionally lends privacy to the Princess's final resting place'.
Topics: UK News, Conspiracy Theory, Royal Family
Kit Roberts