Back حادثة وفاة الأميرة ديانا Arabic Смърт на Даяна, принцеса на Уелс Bulgarian مەرگی شازادە دایانا CKB Θάνατος της πριγκίπισσας Νταϊάνας Greek Muerte de Diana de Gales Spanish Mort et funérailles de Diana Spencer French מותה של דיאנה, נסיכת ויילס HE Արքայադուստր Դիանայի մահ Armenian Morte di Diana Spencer Italian ダイアナ妃の死 Japanese

Death of Diana, Princess of Wales

Death of Diana, Princess of Wales
East entrance to the Pont de l'Alma tunnel, where Diana was fatally injured.
Date31 August 1997 (1997-08-31); 27 years ago
LocationPont de l'Alma, Paris, France[a]
Coordinates48°51′51.7″N 2°18′06.8″E / 48.864361°N 2.301889°E / 48.864361; 2.301889[1]
TypeCar crash
Death caused by dangerous driving
Deaths
Non-fatal injuriesTrevor Rees-Jones
InquiriesFrench criminal trial (1999)
Operation Paget (2008)
Accused
  • Jacques Langevin
  • Christian Martinez
  • Fabrice Chassery[2]
ChargesInvasion of privacy[b]
VerdictFrench criminal trial:
Not guilty[2]
Operation Paget:
Unlawful killing

During the early hours of 31 August 1997, Diana, Princess of Wales, died from injuries sustained earlier that night in a fatal car crash in the Pont de l'Alma tunnel in Paris, France. Dodi Fayed (Diana's partner) and the driver of the Mercedes-Benz W140, Henri Paul, were found dead inside the car. Dodi's bodyguard, Trevor Rees-Jones, was seriously injured but was the only survivor of the crash.

In 1999, a French investigation found that Paul lost control of the vehicle at high speed while intoxicated by alcohol and under the effects of prescription drugs, and concluded that he was solely responsible for the crash. He was the deputy head of security at the Hôtel Ritz Paris at the time of the crash and had earlier goaded paparazzi waiting for Diana and Fayed outside the hotel.[3] Anti-depressants and traces of an anti-psychotic in his blood might have worsened Paul's inebriation.[4] In 2008, a jury at the British inquest, Operation Paget, returned a verdict of unlawful killing through grossly negligent driving by Paul and the following paparazzi vehicles.[5] Some media reports concluded that Rees-Jones survived because he was wearing a seat belt, but other investigations revealed that none of the occupants of the car were wearing one.[6]

Diana was 36 years old when she died.[7] Her death sparked an outpouring of public grief in the United Kingdom and the world,[8] and her televised funeral was watched by an estimated 2.5 billion people.[9] The royal family were criticised in the press for their reaction to Diana's death.


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  1. ^ "Plan of Alma Tunnel" (PDF). Coroner's Inquests into the Deaths of Diana, Princess of Wales and Mr Dodi Al Fayed. Computer Aided Modelling Bureau, Metropolitan Police Service. November 2007. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 May 2008. Retrieved 22 December 2007.
  2. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference :1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Director: David Bartlett, Executive Producer: David Upshal. "The Coronation of Elizabeth II/The Death of Diana". Days That Shook the World.
  4. ^ Nundy, Julian; Graves, David. "Diana crash caused by chauffeur, says report". The Daily Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 13 November 2002.
  5. ^ Rayner, Gordon (7 April 2008). "Diana jury blames paparazzi and Henri Paul for her 'unlawful killing'". Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 25 April 2018. Retrieved 12 October 2013.
  6. ^ Sephton, Connor (28 August 2017). "Trevor Rees-Jones: What happened to the sole survivor of Diana's crash". Sky News. Archived from the original on 19 November 2020. Retrieved 28 November 2020.
  7. ^ Johnston, Carla B. (1998). Global News Access: The Impact of New Communications Technologies. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 1. ISBN 978-0-275-95774-2. Archived from the original on 19 February 2020. Retrieved 7 September 2019.
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference WorldMourns was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference TelevisionAudience was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

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