The Death of Princess Diana by Ruthy Vaughn

On August 31, 1997, Princess Diana of England was killed when she suffered serious injuries in a tragic car accident after being chased by paparazzi on motorcycles (Car Crash Kills Princess Diana). Diana was loved by all because of her willingness to get down on the level of her people, giving her the title “Queen of Hearts”.  But although things appeared picture perfect from the outside, her private life was a different story.  What really happened to Princess Diana that night? Was this car accident really an accident, or could the royal family have pulled some strings to get rid of this liability? Let’s examine the events leading up to her death and what happened that night.

Princess Diana was known for her kindness and the way she loved on people.  She was always willing to get her hands dirty and touch the people she was helping and made sure she was educated about the problems and diseases in her country (Kelly 1). This was shown especially when she shook hands with people who had AIDS without wearing gloves, shattering the common belief that AIDS could be transmitted through touch. This completely changed the way people would view and handle AIDS, because they learned that you could touch these people and not be contaminated.

She proved time and time again how brave she was, especially when it came to dealing with the many rules and pressures that were woven into being a royal. They have had many traditions they have carried throughout the years that they fear parting from, but Diana did not care. She knew what was best for the people, and followed that, no matter what the royal rules or regulations stated. She shared that the royal family feared her because she was unpredictable, she acted out of her heart and not her head (Bashir 1). They wanted her to follow their rulebook that has been obeyed for centuries, but she knew that the people were more important than tradition, and she would get down on their level to form relationships with them, again showing her deep compassion for them.  Although she had the option to expose the royal family for the way they treated her, she kept her silence for a long time, and when she finally opened up, it was to defend herself and prove that she was strong and sane.

Even before she entered their family, she and Prince Charles started off on the wrong foot. One week before her and Charles were set to be married, she found a bracelet he had made for a woman named Camilla Parker Bowles, whom he had had a history with years before (Harvey-Jenner 1).. Charles would not tell her the truth, but Dian knew that he had been seeing her behind her back. For the duration of their marriage, he continued to see her and Diana even referred to her as “the third person in their marriage” (Harvey-Jenner 1). Diana would eventually let herself cheat too because her own husband had not been faithful from the beginning. After 15 years they would end up divorcing and she would be stripped of her title as Princess (Harvey-Jenner 1). Charles would eventually marry Camille, who had also had a husband of her own while they were seeing each other (Harvey-Jenner 1).

            Diana not only fought battles with her new family, but she had her own battles being fought in her mind. She suffered from bulimia and depression. She chose not to keep it a secret because she knew that thousands of people were struggling with issues like hers, and she used them to raise awareness and show that mental disorders are not something to be ashamed of (Mendle 1). Here she was selfless in the sense that she put the needs of the people over her image, because sharing her own mental health issues could have made her seem weak, but she did not care. To her it was not something to be embarrassed about because so many people across not only her country, but across the world fight against their own mental disorders. Her openness about her struggles continue to help people today, as Prince William recently shared in a British documentary about anorexia. “We need to normalize the conversation about mental health, we need to be matter-of-fact about it, and not hide it in the dark where it festers (Mendle 1).”

            Her character was not just described by her actions, but by the people around her who loved her. According to Women’s World, Diana’s brother Charles said, “"Diana was the very essence of compassion, of duty, of style, of beauty. All over the world she was a symbol of selfless humanity." Even Mother Teresa, an icon around the world known for her generosity and kindness, praised Diana by saying, “She was very concerned for the poor. She was very anxious to do something for them, and it was beautiful. That is why she was close to me.”  Not only did commoners think Diana was the epitome of a good person, but her own family and the people who truly knew her. Her image was not a mirage that had been strategically put on display so that the public eye would like her. Deep down she truly was a kind soul who wanted the best for the people around her.

            All in all, Diana was a beautiful woman inside and out, who despite suffering plenty of pain in her life, continued to find the positive side of things. She did not complain about her problems, but fought through them and conquered them. She used what she had gone through help people going through the same thing. She did not shy away from the royal family when they treated her poorly because of the way she carried herself, but continued to do what she believed was right, which was to put her people first no matter what, even if that meant breaking the rules sometimes.

When Princess Diana died, everyone’s first thought was that it was an accident. After all, she was loved by everyone she came across, there’s no way anyone could want her dead. There are two main theories about who caused the death of Princess Diana. The first is simply that the car wreck was an accident. The other says that the royal establishment had her murdered because they never liked her. Although both could be plausible theories, we will take a deeper look into each one.

            Of course right after the wreck happened, it was assumed the wreck was just an accident. Diana and her lover, Dodi Fayed, were on their way to his apartment that was 4 minutes away from the hotel they had been at (Minelle). Their plans had originally been to go get dinner together, but they had to change these plans because the paparazzi had been closely following them throughout their trip to Paris (Minelle). Their driver was Henri Paul, who had drunken two shots of aperitif because he had been off duty (Minelle). By the time they reached what would soon be their final destination, Paul was going almost twice the speed limit and lost control of the car, ramming into one of the columns that held the underpass up (Minelle). The car continued to spin out of control before finally hitting a wall and stopping (Minelle). Both Dodi Fayed and Henri Paul were pronounced dead at the scene, and Princess Diana was taken to a nearby hospital where she eventually went into cardiac arrest and passed away at just 31 years old (Minelle).
            All of this appears to be quite normal and that there was no foul play involved. It was not until later after the accident that people started to bring up the possibility of there being more to the story. It appeared silly at first but what makes one think it could have been more than that is how Princess Diana publicly stated that she felt the establishment would want to get rid of her because they feared her and her spontaneity. She was not easily controllable like all the other members of the royal household. Even in a personal letter given to her butler, Paul Burrell, Princess Diana wrote:
                        I am sitting here at my desk today in October, longing for someone to hug me and

encourage me to keep strong and hold my head high. This particular phase in my life is the most dangerous. [...] is planning 'an accident' in my car, brake failure and serious head injury in order to make the path clear for Charles to marry. (Rayner)

Supporters of this theory may say it is no coincidence that she herself had strange car troubles and in the end, died in a car accident. They say that the establishment knew she was a liability and wanted her gone, and could have finally decided to get rid of her once and for all so that they did not have to deal with her anymore.. As interesting as it would be that the royal establishment killed Princess Diana, and although it may very well still be true, the only evidence we have of this are Princess Diana's statements that she had written in this letter and nothing more. This theory is probably just a lie brought up by tabloids to sell more papers and has stuck around because of how big of a scandal it would be.
            In a recent Twitter poll uploaded by Ruthy Vaughn asking her followers whether or not they believed Princess Diana's death was an accident, 81% of 52 people voted that they believed the royal party caused her car crash. As stated earlier, there is not much evidence to support this idea, but it is also a more exciting alternative to her accident truly being an accident. People may think this because that’s what the media likes to portray as it garners readers and viewers out of curiosity.

            Although there are many other conspiracies on what happened to Princess Diana but most of them have already been refuted. For example, one being that Dodi fayed’s father was a firm believer that the reason she was killed was because she was pregnant with his grandchild (McDermott 1). She was embalmed aft her autopsy and that meant that her blood could no longer be tested, but when they tested her blood from the scene of the accident, she tested negative for pregnancy (McDermott 1). Yet another one is that the secret service of the UK used flashing lights in the tunnel they were going through to disorient the driver Henri Paul and cause their car to spin out of control and crash, but this was quickly refuted when the wife of the man who had claimed he saw the lights stated that there were no flashes at the time (McDermott 1). Even the theory where the royal family themselves did it has been dismissed because there simply isn’t enough evidence to support it, yet after all these years, we may not ever discover what happened to Princess Diana that night. With all the evidence pointing towards her death truly being an accident based on many unfortunate variables, we can safely assume, but never truly know, that her death was simply a tragedy.

            Princess Diana lived her life well. She loved strangers and friends alike. She carried herself with elegance and grace. She shared her pains with the world to show that she was human. She was hurt and kicked down, but she never stooped to the level of her abusers. She lit up rooms with her kindness and joy despite her circumstances, and that was what was so captivating about her. Princess Diana had every reason to be cruel and hateful towards the people who hurt her, but instead she chose to continue to love. She was an ambassador for the people who could not speak for themselves and was truly a Queen of the people’s hearts, no matter what her official title was. We can conclude that her death was most likely an accident, but no matter what, she died with nothing to regret and nothing to be ashamed of. She was and continues to be the epitome of who a princess should be, and Princess Diana will continue to be remembered for years to come with the example she set.

Works Cited

Anglis, Jaclyn. “7 Quotes About Princess Diana That Honor Her Kind, Compassionate Soul.” Woman's World, Woman's World, 20 Sept. 2018, www.womansworld.com/posts/quotes-about-princess-diana-160783.

Bashir. “The Panorama INterview.” BBC News, BBC, www.bbc.co.uk/news/special/politics97/diana/panorama.html.

Kelly, Roisin. “Princess Diana's Legacy of Kindness.” Parade, Parade, 11 Aug. 2017, parade.com/593773/roisinkelly/princess-dianas-legacy-of-kindness/.

McDermott, Maeve. “Who Killed Princess Diana? Conspiracy Theories Endure, Twenty Years Later.” USA Today, Gannett Satellite Information Network, 29 Aug. 2017, www.usatoday.com/story/life/people/2017/08/29/who-killed-princess-diana-conspiracy-theories-still-endure/543939001/.

Mendle, Jane. “Princess Diana's Legacy on Mental Health, Eating Disorders.” Time, Time, 30 Aug. 2017, time.com/4918729/princess-diana-mental-health-legacy/.

Minelle, Bethany. “Everything We Know about the Death of Diana, Princess of Wales.” Sky News, 28 Aug. 2017, news.sky.com/story/everything-we-know-about-the-death-of-diana-princess-of-wales-10988168.

Reporter, Gordon Rayner Chief. “Princess Diana Letter: 'Charles Plans to Kill Me'.” The Telegraph, Telegraph Media Group, 20 Dec. 2007, www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1573170/Princess-Diana-letter-Charles-plans-to-kill-me.html.