Princess Diana—who married into British royalty, only to later be divorced from it—devoted herself to charitable causes and became a global icon before dying in a car accident in Paris in 1997. Diana Spencer married the Prince of Wales in 1981. Although their wedding was watched by millions worldwide, and two sons were born while they were together, her life ended just when she had done what she had been wanting for years—to separate from her husband.
Divorce, BBC interview, and Dodi Al Fayed
Five years into the marriage, the couple’s incompatibility and age difference became visible and damaging. In order to calm her internal pain, Diana began a relationship with James Hewitt, the family’s former riding instructor, and in the same year, Charles started again his relationship with his former girlfriend, Camilla Parker Bowles.
By 1987, cracks in the marriage had become visible, and the couple’s unhappiness and cold attitude towards one another started to spread through the press. In order to get the attention of herself and make the Royal Family agree to the divorce, Diana started to take first steps in this direction. She was exposed in cooperation with the publication of Andrew Morton‘s book, Diana: Her True Story. The book, which also revealed Charles’ affairs as well as Diana’s allegedly suicidal unhappiness, caused a media storm. In 1991, James Colthurst conducted secret interviews with Diana in which she had talked about her marital issues and difficulties. However, the last step in the back of Charles and the whole Royal Family was made in 1995 with the broadcast of the “Panorama” BBC show, where Diana discussed her own and her husband’s extramarital affairs. Referring to Charles’s relationship with Parker Bowles, she said:
Well, there were three of us in this marriage, so it was a bit crowded.
The interview proved to be the tipping point. On 20 December, Buckingham Palace announced that the Queen had sent letters to Charles and Diana, advising them to divorce.
Several months later, Diana began a relationship with Dodi Fayed, the son of her summer host, Mohamed Al-Fayed. That summer, Diana had considered taking her sons on a holiday to the Hamptons on Long Island, New York, but security officials had prevented it. Mohamed Al-Fayed bought the Jonikal, a 60-metre multimillion-pound yacht on which to entertain Diana and her sons.
Princess Diana’s death
On the evening of August 31, 1997, Diana and Al-Fayed were dining privately in the Imperial Suite at Paris’ famous Ritz Hotel. They had planned to have a quiet, romantic meal at the hotel’s restaurant—Al-Fayed had reportedly purchased a ring for Diana earlier in the day—but they had to leave after 10 minutes because they were being disturbed by the press and other patrons.
At 11:30 that night, as they left the hotel to return to Al-Fayed’s Paris apartment, they were hounded by paparazzi, despite the fact that significant security precautions had been taken, including the use of a decoy vehicle, which left from the front of the hotel.
Diana and Al-Fayed left the hotel using a rear entrance, with French driver Henri Paul and one of the princess’ bodyguards, Trevor Rees-Jones.
Driving a Mercedes S-280 limousine, Paul took Rees-Jones, Diana and Al-Fayed on a high-speed trip through the boulevards and narrow streets of central Paris. Investigators later estimated that the car may have been traveling in excess of 60 miles per hour.
At 12:19 a.m., the Mercedes carrying the couple, Paul and Rees-Jones, crashed into the 13th pillar of the Pont d’Alma Bridge, which traverses the River Seine. They were less than two miles from the Ritz Hotel.
Al-Fayed and Paul died at the scene. Diana was taken to Paris’ La Pitie Salpetriere Hospital, but several hours later,
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