Last Hours, Death, Transfer from France, Funeral and Interment

[Queen Ester]

you do know that her protection wasn't taeken away and that she herself was the one who refused to have RPOS?

No, I did not know that, thank you the clarification

 

[UglyAmerican]

I read a book once that lays Diana's death at the foot of HM, basically saying that if her royal protection has not been taken away, she would have never gotten into that car with a drunk driver, do you that claim has any merit?

I think there's a difference between a claim being technically true and it having real merit. Yes, a royal protection officer would probably at least have told her to wear a seatbelt, and voiced objections to their plan to race photographers through a tunnel. Maybe they'd have listened, and no one would have died. But should a grown woman need to be told that these things are dangerous? The rest of all know better than to do those things.

 

[Harald]

I read a book once that lays Diana's death at the foot of HM, basically saying that if her royal protection has not been taken away, she would have never gotten into that car with a drunk driver, do you that claim has any merit?

Diana would surely still be alive if she had not chosen to refuse police protection, because the police can with the authority of the law do much more to protect her from paparazzi. Even outside Britain, where the royal protection officers would make arrangements with their foreign collegues.

They surely would have prevented her from getting into a car with a drunk driver and with a faulty seat belt. There would also have been no need to try and shake off the paparazzi because the police can bar them from following her.

 

[Alison H]

I read a book once that lays Diana's death at the foot of HM, basically saying that if her royal protection has not been taken away, she would have never gotten into that car with a drunk driver, do you that claim has any merit?

Diana's death was a tragedy. However, if it was obvious that the driver was drunk - and I know Henri Paul's family debate this - then Diana should not have got in the car. You do not need a Royal Protection Officer to tell you not to get in a car with a drunk driver. Nor do you need a Royal Protection Officer to tell you to fasten your seatbelt. It was very sad, but I don't think that not having security can be blamed.

 

[roseroyal]

Diana's death was a tragedy. However, if it was obvious that the driver was drunk - and I know Henri Paul's family debate this - then Diana should not have got in the car. You do not need a Royal Protection Officer to tell you not to get in a car with a drunk driver. Nor do you need a Royal Protection Officer to tell you to fasten your seatbelt.

I agree with you.

 

[Rayal]

We have discussed this before but after reading both French and British investigations which I'm convinced were thorough and true, no one in the car put on a seat belt. The seat belts were tested and they were not faulty. The ECM registered that no connection attempt was ever made between the buckles and the receivers. (The sensors pick up any connection metal to metal and sends the signal and registers it to the ECM). They were quite clear on this.


A quality protection officer or bodyguard, as part of their formal training, always insist the driver not move until everyone is buckled in. It is true that we are dealing with grown ups and not children so a bodyguard does not need to tell an adult to buckle up. However, just like forgetting your keys, or your sunglasses, humans do forget things that are important. The bodyguard is still suppose to remind them to buckle up. Its a courtesy and its for their protection. In this case Trevor Rees Jones didn't even put on his own seat belt which allowed him to fly forward putting his face and head through the windshield. The only thing that saved his life was the airbags deployed and that protected his torso but not his head. He has no memory of the crash and was unable to answer pertinent questions. So the bottom line was that if he had reminded Diana she would probably be alive today. If she had paid attention to putting on her seat belt she might have been alive today.


Diana was on a new start after her divorce and wanted to be free of the gilded cage which included a protection officer. It was her decision as part of this shedding of the rules of royal life. Its about freedom and that is just human nature but in this case it was tragic and the world is at a loss.


The only real blame that night was Dodi wanted go to his apartment and this after his father had counseled him to stay at the hotel because of so much paparazzi was there. Why was he so adamant that he wanted to go? Many speculate but there is no proof that he wanted to ask Diana to marry him. If I was a betting man I think she would have turned him down. Simply because of testimony of her friends and butler that she had talked to the past few days. She never mentioned that he had or had not asked her...not once...to any of them.

 

[Elan]

The only real blame that night was Dodi wanted go to his apartment and this after his father had counseled him to stay at the hotel because of so much paparazzi was there. Why was he so adamant that he wanted to go? Many speculate but there is no proof that he wanted to ask Diana to marry him. If I was a betting man I think she would have turned him down. Simply because of testimony of her friends and butler that she had talked to the past few days. She never mentioned that he had or had not asked her...not once...to any of them.

Turning him down that particular night seems more than likely.. but a fellow like Dodi knew patience and understanding with women while whisking them off to spectacular places. The answer is less predictable over the span of a few months, more enjoyable evenings shared. So her refusing that weekend wouldn't have ended the relationship, nor discouraged him very much at all.

 

[Moonmaiden23]

Raval, Trevor Rees-Jones was indeed wearing a seat belt. In fact, he was the only occupant of the vehicle who buckled up. The doctors all agree that this is the one factor that saved his life. Even with the seatbelt fastened his injuries were traumatic.

There was some controversy around the fact that he might not have ensured that the Princess of Wales, whose safety was his responsibility- did not buckle her seat belt.

Who is to say that the famously willful Diana did not do as she was asked? Rees-Jones has little to no memory of the tragedy.

 

[Denville]

Raval, Trevor Rees-Jones was indeed wearing a seat belt. In fact, he was the only occupant of the vehicle who buckled up. The doctors all agree that this is the one factor that saved his life. Even with the seatbelt fastened his injuries were traumatic.

There was some controversy around the fact that he might not have ensured that the Princess of Wales, whose safety was his responsibility- did not buckle her seat belt.

Who is to say that the famously willful Diana did not do as she was asked? Rees-Jones has little to no memory of the tragedy.

no, he wasn't. the report showed that none of the seat belts were used.

 

[Moonmaiden23]

I see. Initially, it was reported that he had his seat belt on, but further investigation revealed that he didn't. Thanks for the correction.

I've read that his face was reconstructed using 150 pieces of titanium. He is beyond fortunate to have survived.

 

[TLLK]

I see. Initially, it was reported that he had his seat belt on, but further investigation revealed that he didn't. Thanks for the correction.

I've read that his face was reconstructed using 150 pieces of titanium. He is beyond fortunate to have survived.

Oh my Lord. I knew that it required extensive surgeries but when you put in terms like this, you have to admire and thank the medical professionals in France and elsewhere who saved his life and reconstructed his face.

 

[Moonmaiden23]

Indeed. He was unrecognizable. Skilled maxillofacial surgeons using family photographs had to reconstruct his face from scratch. Mohammed Al Fayed paid for it and the rest of the cost was absorbed by the British National Health Service.

He remembers almost nothing of the night of August 30/31 1997.

His survival seems miraculous the more I think about it.

 

[Blog Real]

British TV Announce Princess Diana’s Death

 

[Curryong]

That day was so sad, so dramatic. I and my family were glued to the TV for hours. One of those events we still remember so clearly.

 

[Elan]

That day was so sad, so dramatic. I and my family were glued to the TV for hours. One of those events we still remember so clearly.

Indeed. Most of what I recall in hindsight was that the news of Diana being taken and treated in the hospital provided a false sense of an outcome unlike Dodi and Henri Paul. The more time that allowed for it, the more of a jolt that arrived when it was confirmed.

 

[Roslyn]

Indeed. Most of what I recall in hindsight was that the news of Diana being taken and treated in the hospital provided a false sense of an outcome unlike Dodi and Henri Paul. The more time that allowed for it, the more of a jolt that arrived when it was confirmed.

I felt the same. The news suggested she would recover, so it was more of a shock when the truth was revealed.

I remember the day very clearly. I heard the initial reports on the car radio going to an event. The news of her death was not released until I was arriving home. I went inside and went straight to the TV and was glued to it for the rest of the day and night, and the next day. My husband thought I was mad. I wasn't particularly fond of Diana but her death hit me hard. I still can't explain why it affected me like that.

 

[Curryong]

I was staying in England on the week she died and her funeral took place, on a visit from Australia. Strangely enough one of the weird little things I remember reading from that time was that there was a huge surge in electricity usage in the breaks from watching TV that people took (toilet breaks, brewing a cuppa in the jug, toasting sandwiches etc.)

That happens during most popular TV programmes (such as international soccer games) but apparently it was especially notable in the 24 hours following Diana’s death. It was as if people could only tear themselves away from the TV for a short while.

If it had happened nowadays I guess everybody would have jumped on the Internet, causing it to crash!

 

[LauraS3514]

I was on vacation at the beach when the first reports came in. I was actually watching CNN and saw the graphic crawl at the bottom change from "Princess Diana injured" to "Princess Diana Dead."

 

[Denville]

That must have been in America. In the UK.. I woke up in the monring, put the TV on and the reports were that she was dead.

 

[Rayal]

I really can't go into it too deeply but that whole week my family was so sad and it broke my heart as well. To see my sister and mother crying was too much for me and so I would take long walks around my home, and asked a thousand times, "Why?"

 

[MaryVirginia]

Indeed. Most of what I recall in hindsight was that the news of Diana being taken and treated in the hospital provided a false sense of an outcome unlike Dodi and Henri Paul. The more time that allowed for it, the more of a jolt that arrived when it was confirmed.

Yes, when it was announced that Dodi had died, I just kept thinking what a hard time Diana would have going on in life... not even thinking that she herself would not make it.

 

[Alison H]

It was overnight here. I remember waking up, putting the 7am news on on the radio, and hearing Tony Blair going on about a great loss to the nation. I realised that someone significant had died, but I thought maybe an elderly former politician, and then I put the TV on and saw that it was Diana.

 

[Hallo girl]

I was asleep when a member of my family wakened me up to tell me about the car crash and Dodi was dead, that was me in front of the television the whole night until they finally announced what by then we sensed was coming.

 

[camelot23ca]

I'd heard Diana had been in an accident but they were initially reporting that her injuries were serious but not critical. I was shocked when my mother turned on the TV some time later and we found out she'd died.

What I actually always remember when Diana's death is mentioned is something that happened afterwards, when I was at university. I was in a small group session for a course I was taking and the instructor was talking about generation defining events - Pearl Harbour, Kennedy's death, etc. He asked us if we thought there'd been anything like this for our generation. We were all in our late teens/early 20s. Someone mentioned the Berlin Wall coming down but we'd all been kids during the lead up to that. Then someone kind of sheepishly mentioned Diana's death and we laughed a little because we knew that wasn't really the sort of thing the instructor meant. After congratulating us on being a very boring generation thus far, he said he hoped we'd all find the course interesting, and then told us to get out and enjoy the great weather. 9/11 happened the following week.

 

[Curryong]

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/...na-death-pre-social-media-world-a7917366.html


How the British media handled the early reports of Diana’s death in a pre-social media world. Some people still relied on landline phones. Behind the scenes memories of TV anchors and others.

 

[Duke of Marmalade]

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...timony-doctors-fight-save-Princess-Diana.html
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...d-fire-chief-heard-Princess-Dianas-words.html


The DM re-examines Diana's last days with eye witnesses.

 

[Iluvbertie]

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/...na-death-pre-social-media-world-a7917366.html


How the British media handled the early reports of Diana’s death in a pre-social media world. Some people still relied on landline phones. Behind the scenes memories of TV anchors and others.

Some people still do rely on landline phones. I don't have a mobile and I also have friends who don't have mobiles either, especially many older friends who have landlines only. They are on the old age pension and don't have the money for a mobile or the internet. They rely on TV to get news etc. It is really annoying for them when the news say 'to check xxxx go to yyyy website' as they don't have the internet to be able to do that.

If my income continues to remain at its current rate I will be getting rid of the internet within the next few years due to the need to make budget cuts.

 

[Denville]

Some people still do rely on landline phones. I don't have a mobile and I also have friends who don't have mobiles either, especially many older friends who have landlines only. They are on the old age pension and don't have the money for a mobile or the internet. They rely on TV to get news etc. It is really annoying for them when the news say 'to check xxxx go to yyyy website' as they don't have the internet to be able to do that.

If my income continues to remain at its current rate I will be getting rid of the internet within the next few years due to the need to make budget cuts.

I only have a landline phone, too. and back in 1997 it was still pretty common to only have that. I have tried mobiles but they seem to break down so much and the lines are bad, i prefer a landline.

 

[Curryong]

I just wrote about land line phones with reference to the media contacts of the time of Diana’s death, 1997. The observation about many relying on landlines is in the article.

I’m 75 and love my iPad and mobile. Can’t do without them!

 

[Erin9]

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/...na-death-pre-social-media-world-a7917366.html


How the British media handled the early reports of Diana’s death in a pre-social media world. Some people still relied on landline phones. Behind the scenes memories of TV anchors and others.

This was really interesting. Thanks.

I’m think it’s a very good thing iPhones weren’t available then to possibly take some horrific photos.

I know this wasn’t the main point- but it was interesting to read that it apparently is/was protocol for government officials not to be flying when a royal death is announced. And that’s why some guessed earlier that Diana had passed away: because a plane was delayed in leaving.