Death In A Paris Tunnel: Princess Diana [1961-1997]
Image: Wikimedia Commons
When Diana Spencer married Prince Charles, heir to the British throne, in 1981, it was a precedent-setting match between a non-royal and a member of the British Royal Family. When her life ended on August 28, 1997 after the driver of her Mercedes S280, Henri Paul, lost control of the car in a tunnel, there was speculation that the paparazzi attention had caused her death. Diana was the most widely-recognized woman in the world and had been stalked for years by paparazzi. Driver Henri Paul died, but a subsequent investigation uncovered enough prescription drugs and alcohol in his system to impair his driving. Paul was deputy head of security at The Ritz Hotel in Paris. Diana’s boyfriend, Harrod’s heir Dodi Fayed, was also killed in the crash. A bodyguard, Trevor Rees-Jones, survived. Although conspiracy theories abounded, there was at the inquest it was concluded that there was no conspiracy and the deaths of all in the car were accidental.