The Mysterious Death of Princess Diana by Elissa Rivas

           

Most people believe Princess Diana’s car crash was an accident, but do we really know what happened after her car entered the tunnel? Princess Diana died in a tragic car crash on August 31, 1997, with her boyfriend Dodi Fayed. After her death, many theories arose: Queen Elizabeth II orchestrated it, Prince Charles had her killed, or it was simply an accident. Let’s examine the theories, with the most plausible solution being it was an accident.

Character Analysis

Diana Spencer was born on July 1, 1961. She married Prince Charles in 1981, when she was only 19 years old. After they got married, the media took an interest in the new princess and everything she did. She would soon become known all around the world. Diana was not only known for being the princess of Wales, but for being generous, bold, and glamorous.

     Diana was mainly known for being generous. To begin with, she was known as the “people’s princess” (“Princess Diana”). She advocated for multiple things including HIV, AIDS, and the removal of land mines, and was very involved. She would shake hands with HIV patients and staff, without gloves, to end the stigma associated with them at the time. In 1997, the princess walked across an active minefield and met with survivors to advocate for the removal of mines in Africa (“20th Death Anniversary”).She was a part of a TV special to raise awareness and was the Red Cross’ biggest advocate. She was also a mental health advocate. Diana would talk about her struggles with depression and bulimia publicly to show that anyone, no matter social status, can struggle with mental health too. She talked about it to help other people know it’s okay to struggle. She gave a speech about women and mental health. In her speech, she talked about how society expected women to keep things together while dealing with their kids, husbands, and families (Settelen). She believed women have the right to suffer as much as men do.  She stated, “Those women who have taken on the heavy burden of attending to others need also to be attended” (Settelen). Princess Diana believed in helping other people because you can, not because you expect something in return. She stated, “Carry out a random act of kindness, with no expectation of reward, safe in the knowledge that one day someone might do the same for you” (Cain). She also helped others when she was struggling with her own problems. In her famous Panorama interview, she stated “It would be very difficult to know how to comfort myself having been comforting lots of other people” (“Panorama Interview”). Diana was referring to her struggles with bulimia and depression. She admitted in an interview to having attempted suicide multiple times (“Panorama Interview”). Princess Diana kept helping others even after her divorce with Charles. “I am not a political figure,” she insisted, ”I am a humanitarian figure, always was, always will be” in an interview in Africa (Cain).  She worked with a lot of famous humanitarian figures like Mother Teresa, Nelson Mandela, and Pope John Paul II. She also didn’t believe that royalty made her better than everyone else. She would crouch down for children, so they were on the same level to make the children feel more comfortable. Most royalty at the time would look down to children because they thought they were above them.

Diana was not only known for her generosity, but for her boldness too. She was a very informal princess and broke a lot of rules. A lot of her boldness came out in her fashion. She wouldn’t follow the “royal rules” when it came to what she wore. She wore black on a regular basis when the royal family only wore black to funerals or when in mourning. She also wore short skirts, sleeveless dresses, and dresses that would show off her body. She dressed with a purpose and believed if the media was paying attention to what she was wearing, they would pay attention to what she was doing (Quinn). She would wear bold clothes when she went to events for charities so the media would pay attention to the issue she was advocating for. She wore bold makeup most of the time. She usually wore blue eyeliner that matched her eyes, but she would keep it natural for major events. Her fashion is not the only way she was bold. In addition, she also exposed her kids to a non-royal way to life. She enrolled them into public school when royal children were usually home-schooled. She would take them to amusement parks and to homeless shelters to help people. Unlike royal brides before her, Diana wrote her own vows. When members of the royal family get married, they have vows given to them. During her wedding, she refused to say she would “obey” Charles, which is part of the vows (Fogle). She was also the first to choose her wedding ring form a catalog. Wedding rings were usually custom made and expensive, but Diana chose her ring from a catalog and it cost £28,000 (Cliff).

With her boldness came her glamour. Princess Diana was a trend setter in the fashion world and inspired many people with her bold choices. Designer Virgil Abloh dedicated his 2018 Spring collection to Diana. He posted a mood board on Instagram that featured multiple pictures of the princess in her iconic outfits (“Virgil Abloh's OFF-WHITE SS18 Collection”). Another designer, Tory Burch, said her 2020 spring collection was inspired by Diana’s personality (“Tory Burch Take Inspiration from Princess Diana's Fearless Persona at NYFW.”). In an interview Burch stated, “she's a style icon” and “she stands apart” (1). She continued to call the princess brave and fearless (1). Diana dressed to empower herself. She would wear outfits that showed her body and made her feel confident. After Prince Charles revealed he was having an affair with Camilla Bowles, Diana wore a very revealing and tight body con dress that is now known as her iconic “revenge dress” (1). She inspired many women to empower themselves through their fashion.

In a nutshell, Diana was more than a Princess. Diana spencer was generous, bold, and glamorous. She dedicated her life to helping others, advocated for many charities, and spoke about many issues. Even though she was part of the royal family, she made her own decisions and didn’t follow their rules. She would do very “un-royal” things when it came to her fashion. Being bold in her fashion inspired many designers. Diana continues to be an inspiration to this day.

Conspiracy Theories

            A survey concluded that 57% of people believe Diana’s death was not an accident. There are three different conspiracies that come up. The first two involve the Royal Family and the last one is her car crash was an accident.

The first conspiracy is the Queen of England orchestrated the crash because Diana was pregnant and wanted to marry Dodi Fayed. The theory is she hired Henri Paul to intentionally crash the car. Mohamed Al-Fayed believes they were murdered because the Royal Family did not want Dodi in the family because he was Muslim. Al-Fayed stated, “they told me they were engaged and would announce their engagement on Monday morning” at an inquest (Levy). Henri was not Diana’s regular driver. He was the head of security at the Ritz Hotel in France, Where Diana and Dodi were staying before they died. He suggested driving them out of the back of the hotel because Diana was uncomfortable with all paparazzi. According to Franz Klein, the President of the Ritz, chauffeuring is not a part of Henri’s job (Stevens). The Assistant President also confirmed that Henri was not supposed to be working that day, but he came in to help with the Princess and her boyfriend (Stevens). Another reason people believe he was working for someone is that he had more money than expected. When he died, Henri had about £2,000 in cash and more than £100,000 in thirteen different bank accounts (Stevens). This caused people to think he was hired to kill Diana and Dodi. People also believe that Henri was not drunk when they crashed, and the blood results were someone else’s. Many witnesses and cameras from the hotel suggest that he was sober, or at least good enough to drive. Bodyguards at the hotel said he was coherent and appeared to be sober (Stevens). The toxicology report showed that Henri’s alcohol blood levels were three times over the legal limit in France, and they also showed a high level of carbon monoxide in his blood (Stevens). This would cause him to act irrational and incoherent, so it wasn’t present at the hotel and he didn’t inhale it after the crash because he died on impact. Toxicology reports on the other victims in the car don’t show any signs of carbon monoxide (Stevens). This caused people to believe the blood samples were switched with another person, someone who committed suicide. This theory is not plausible because there is no evidence the Queen had a problem with Diana and Dodi’s relationship. Although there was proof Dodi was planning on asking Diana to marry him, there is no proof they were already engaged or that Diana wanted to get married. A couple months before her death, Diana told her good friend, Annabel Goldsmith, “I would need marriage like a rash on my face” (Kapusta). This suggests Diana didn’t plan on getting married anytime soon. There were no signs in her autopsy that suggested she was pregnant when she died (Stevens). There is also no proof Henri was working for anyone or that he purposefully crashed the car. There have been multiple toxicology reports done over the years and they all show that he was drunk when they crashed, this combined with them going around 60-65 mph caused them to crash the way they did.

The second conspiracy theory is Prince Charles killed her so he could remarry. Before she died, Diana wrote a letter that shows she was convinced someone was trying to kill her. It said “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” (Griffin). She gave this letter to her one-time butler Paul Burrell, after she had been experiencing car trouble. In addition, Mohamed Al-Fayed said, “she told me that she knew Prince Philip and Prince Charles were trying to get rid of her” (Griffin). Diana also believed the Royal Family had her bodyguard, Barry Mannakee, killed because they were having an affair. “It was all found out and he was chucked out [of royal protection]. Then he was killed. I think he was bumped off” she said (Griffin). She called him the greatest love she’d ever had. The bodyguard was killed in a motorcycle accident after he was hit by a car. It’s also no secret that Charles was having an affair with Diana’s friend, Camilla. Prince Charles and Camilla had a relationship before he met Diana and it continued all the way through both their marriages. Although Camilla did play a part in Diana and Charles’s marriage falling apart, she was not the main reason. Their relationship had been rocky since the start and was bound to end. This theory is not plausible because there is no proof Charles wanted to kill Diana. She wasn’t in the way of him and Camilla getting married.

The final and most plausible conspiracy theory is that it was simply an accident. Although most people don’t believe it, there is a lot of evidence that suggests the crash was accidental. Toxicology reports show that Henri was drunk when they crashed, and police reports show they were going at least double the speed limit (Stevens). Henri lost control of the car and it resulted in the fatal accident. There is no proof that anyone else was involved or planned the crash. Although Henri’s extra money does not have an explanation, there is no evidence he was involved with the Royal Family or anyone else. There have been many investigations done to rule out foul play. France had an investigation on Diana’s accident called Operation Paget. This investigation looked through several different conspiracies surrounding Diana’s death, and confirmed that it was an accident.

            There are many conspiracies surrounding Diana’s death, but the most plausible one is that it was an accident. The first two conspiracies have no proof or evidence that support them, and a lot of evidence that contradicts it.  All the evidence suggests it was an accident.

Conclusion

When it comes to the tragic crash that ended Princess Diana’s life, there are three conspiracies that surround it:

1.      Queen Elizabeth II hired Henri Paul to kill Diana.

2.      Prince Charles organized her death so he could remarry.

3.      The car crash was an accident.

Although there is a lot of evidence that suggests the crash was an accident, people still question it today. 

Works Cited

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