Dr Richard Shepherd said he was inundated with questions about Princess Di's autopsy but has long refused to reveal intimate details. Almost the instant the second group of officers reached the car, it was clear that the chauffeur and Al Fayed, both sitting on the vehicles left side, were beyond help. In fact, Crown creator Peter Morgan already explored the topic in the film The Queen, which is about the five days between Dianas death and the queens public speech. What qualities does a coroner need? Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, Then Mr Burgess will travel to Reigate in Surrey, where he is the county coroner. And if she had been wearing a seatbelt Diana may have survived the crash with just a black eye, rib injuries and maybe a broken arm. The car, which was driving at least 60 miles per hour, crashed into a pillar in an underpass by the Seine River, per BBC and the Associated Press. Surgeons operated for two hours, but Princess Diana did not again regain consciousness. The car crash also . All were quickly arrested and led out in manacles. He can, nevertheless, perform a valuable service to common sense: he should allow a great deal of the detailed evidence from the French investigation to be made public to help to place the wilder theories in context. It's official! He was also the coroner at the inquest into the death of Milly Dowler, the murdered schoolgirl whose remains were found in Yateley Heath Forest in Hampshire. The Sun website is regulated by the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO), Our journalists strive for accuracy but on occasion we make mistakes. The qualified solicitor has more than 20 years' experience as a coroner, and has been Coroner of the Queen's Household since 2002. According to Prince William, Queen Elizabeth II shielded her grandsons from the ensuing news spectacle. You have reached your limit of free articles. mediaId: '29447c7a-d634-430a-b128-2667a70ba916', One of the most striking, and controversial, images from the day were of young Harry and William walking beside their mothers coffin as it traveled from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Cathedral. And so did independent investigations, notably Martyn Gregory's Diana: The Last Days. Top UK forensic pathologist Dr Richard Shepherd has revealed what really caused Princess Diana's death during the fatal crash in Paris in 1997. The only occupant wearing a seatbelt was bodyguard Rees-Jones. Better late than never! First, I want to pay tribute to Diana, myself. the local traffic laws allow; and from the west end, where the narrow tunnel opened onto a spectacular view of the left bank of the Seine. For social media editor Sophie Vershbow, Dianas death is a formative childhood memory. X is planning 'an accident' in my car, brake failure and serious head injury in order to make the path clear for Charles to marry.. Getty. Seeing double! Operating for two hours, doctors tried, and failed, to get Dianas heart beating properly again. When Richardson and Luz ran into the tunnel, they saw the car facing back in the direction from which it had come, its roof crushed, its windshield smashed and its air bags deployed. Email us attips@the-sun.co.ukor call 0207 782 4368 . According to eyewitnesses, there was another element involved in the crash. I remember it as the first time I saw intense grief on display, Vershbow recalled. See more about. There's a Rumor Joe Alwyn Cheated on Taylor Swift More than two decades after her death, there are still a lot of questions about how Princess Diana died and what her cause of death was. In HBO's The Princess, the documentary asks views to question if our media culture has really improved since Diana's untimely death. What I do remember with startling clarity is that I didnt cry. On the way, paramedics examined the wounded princess and found her condition grave. And, in a rare break in royal protocol, the queen bowed her head as Dianas coffin went past. Prince William agrees. After all, he was there when this most high profile of cases began. "Henri Paul effectively acted as Dodi's airbag and he died instantly. M. Paul's family insist that the carbon-monoxide finding shows that the blood in the sample did not come from him. When they emerged, the crowd that had begun to gather jeered, and one cuffed cameraman was even set upon and beaten before police could hustle him away. "Diana was slightly more fortunate because their bodyguard, Trevor Rees-Jones, was sitting in front of her and he was strapped in.". AJ McLean helped Aaron Carter check into rehab five years before his death. For more than two hours they struggled to stabilize her, eventually opening her chest and applying direct massage to her heart. Pathologist reveals 'tiny, rare' injury killed Princess Diana. And while you have probably heard some things about her death, it's been 25 years now, and you may be fuzzy on the details. The 6,000-page file assembled by Judge Stephan has never been made public. But he retired in 2002, and at the end of last year it fell to his successor to start proceedings. Toxicology reports later showed that Henri had a severely elevated blood alcohol level, per CNN. Presiding over the first British public hearings into the tragedy, he has access to all 6,000 pages of evidence uncovered by French investigators and the power to compel British witnesses to attend. The last royal inquest was carried out in 1972 when Prince William of Gloucester, eldest son of the Queen's uncle, the Duke of Gloucester, was killed in a plane crash. According to reports, Paul lost control of the car and collided into a pillar in the middle of the highway. Back in the tunnel, the scene was a grim one. Our mission at STYLECASTER is to bring style to the people, and we only feature products we think youll love as much as we do. Clickheretouploadyours. cnx.cmd.push(function() { During the funeral, people reflected on the attention that defined Diana's life and death. Pa didnt hug me. When the ambulance reached the hospital, the emergency-room physicians found that Diana was alivejust barelybut that the injuries had caused extensive internal bleeding. Had she been restrained, she would probably have appeared in public two days later with a black eye, perhaps a bit breathless from the fractured ribs and with a broken arm in a sling, Shepherd wrote. It was a bad accident. Diana suffered several injuries in the crash. Its believed that Diana and Fayed planned to travel to Fayeds private estate in Paris. When she suffered a cardiac arrest, every effort was made to resuscitate her and in hospital she went into surgery, where they did identify the problem and attempted to repair the vein. Back then, obviously, there were no smartphones or anything like that, so you couldn't get your news, and thankfully at the time, to be honest, we had the privacy to mourn and collect our thoughts and to have that space away from everybody, William said in a 2017 BBC documentary. We are no longer accepting comments on this article. Follow. (Had she been wearing a seat-belt, she would have been alive today. An inquest is not a trial. According to Oprah magazine, the posted speed limit for the road for 30 miles per hour, however, Paul approached the entrance of the tunnel at around 70 miles per hour, which led him to lose control of the car and collide with a pillar in the middle of the highway. As the first wife of Prince Charles and .css-7qz8rz{-webkit-text-decoration:underline;text-decoration:underline;text-decoration-thickness:0.0625rem;text-decoration-color:#f7623b;text-underline-offset:0.25rem;color:inherit;-webkit-transition:background 0.4s;transition:background 0.4s;background:linear-gradient(#ffffff, #ffffff 50%, #feebe7 50%, #feebe7);-webkit-background-size:100% 200%;background-size:100% 200%;}.css-7qz8rz:hover{color:#000000;text-decoration-color:border-link-body-hover;-webkit-background-position:100% 100%;background-position:100% 100%;}mother to William and Harry, she captured everyone's hearts and minds with her charming persona and keen fashion sense. I enjoy what I do. Darling boy, Mummys been in a car crash. He went on, They tried, darling boy. "She actually suffered just a few broken bones and a small chest injury but this included a tiny tear in a vein in one of her lungs.". Passers-by, who included the off-duty Dr Maillez, are seen with policemen, firemen, and the paparazzi. In an interview with People in 2016, Harry talked about how he just wants to make his late mother proud. All I want to do is make my mother incredibly proud, he said at the time. Heres what you need to know. The horror scene where I found Diana dying, by the first man at Paris crash. Could she have been saved if she had been taken straight to hospital? The brothers have only recently begun to open up about how this devastating (and highly public) loss affected them. It is okay to suffer, but as long as you talk about it. She died from internal bleeding at 4:53 a.m. on August 31, 1997. An officer of the Crown appointed to investigate certain types of death. The crash that killed Princess Diana. 'Was she pregnant?. (Diana and Charles had divorced in 1996 after four years of separation). The file consists of more than 300 witness statements, taken by the 30 detectives who worked on the case for two years (interviews with witnesses at the scene; with the photographers; with medical staff; with employees of the Ritz hotel, which the couple had just left; with friends and family of the driver, Henri Paul; and with the two British bodyguards who were travelling with the couple). She had a concussion, broken arm and a cut to her thigh, according to United Press International. So why has it taken so long? Princess Diana, the mother of Prince William and Prince Harry and the ex-wife of Prince Charles, died on August 31, 1997. All I saw was the back of my moms head slumped on the back seat, he said. The jury can include members of the Royal Family, although this is rare because, under the coroner's rules, members of the jury are not allowed to be related to the deceased either by blood or through marriage. . Moment commuter blasts eco-zealots, Woman dancing in the street films moment gunman opens fire, Russian freight train derails and bursts into flames after explosion, Saboteurs wreck Russian train cut power cables 37mi from Ukraine, Historic chairs to be reused by the King for the coronation service, Hundreds of Household Division members rehearse for coronation, Royal superfans camping on The Mall ahead of King's Coronation, Women's rights activists and pro-trans campaigners separated, Cambridge students party in the park during annual celebrations, Moment bull suffers catastrophic injuries after leaping from bridge, LGBTQ+ supporters demand Ryan Webb resign at council meeting, Braverman: People crossing Channel are 'at odds with British values'. After she married Prince Charles, the eldest of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philips four children, in July 1981, Diana Spencers entire life became tabloid fodder, from marital intrigue to their divorce and its aftermath. Early reports said Diana was suffering from a concussion, broken arm, and cut thigh. So much would happen in the next 16 years. Carolyn Bryant Donham cause of death and obituary GhBasecom-Everything & News Now. They were just shooting, shooting, shooting., In an interview with 60 Minutes in January 2023, Harry revealed that he didnt believe Dianas death until he was 23 years old and thought it was fake. Read the rest of the special report here, in the TIME Vault. The file also contains medical evidence about the causes of the three deaths and the attempts made by the French emergency response team to save Diana's life by the roadside. "Investigate the circumstances of the deaths of all persons whose bodies are lying within his jurisdiction where he has reason to believe that the death was violent, unnatural or of unknown cause," says the Home Office. Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philips four children, dined at the private salon at the Ritz Hotel, suffering from a concussion, broken arm, and cut thigh, the acting head of security at the Ritz Hotel, televised to a global audience of 750 million, vacationing at Balmoral Castle in Scotland, Queen Elizabeth II shielded her grandsons, 2.5 billion watched her funeral procession, wrote in his unofficial biography of Markle. The car was travelling at up to 70mph - twice the speed limit - and Paul was three times over the drink-drive limit. Sources close to Mohamed Al Fayed, who claims his son and Diana were murdered in an Establishment plot, said the existence of the last picture of the couple surrounded in the front and the rear by photographers proved they were pursued to their death by the paparazzi. Diana had died while Vogel was in the air. In the immediate aftermath of the accident, seven French photographers were arrested and questioned by the police. She was still conscious when police and ambulances arrived at the scene of the crash less than 10 minutes later, but was . Is there a jury? Tom Richardson and Joanna Luz, visitors from San Diego, were walking near the mouth of the tunnel when they saw the car enter, feverishly pursued by a swarm of motorcycles and scooters, then heard what sounded to them like an explosion. I always made sure I never said anything in all the cases of public interest I was involved with that hadn't already appeared in the press. According to The New York Times, charges of manslaughter were brought against nine photographers who followed the Mercedes and took photos after the crash, but they were not found guilty. Since he died instantly, how could this have been absorbed from the air-bags in the Mercedes, as French experts claim? Though Diana is remembered for her kindness and advocacy, her death is often thought of as a climax of one long chase for a scoop. Dianas boyfriend, Dodi Al Fayed, and their driver, Henri Paul, also died in the crash, per CNN. Only then will he decide how to proceed - and which witnesses to call, if any. It felt she was almost walking along beside us to get us through it.. or debate this issue live on our message boards. "Her specific injury is so rare that in my entire career I don't believe I've seen another. The biography, which has been described as the closest we will ever come to a Princess Diana autobiography, was republished with new material in 2017 to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Peoples Princess death. The Paparazzi Photos. One of these sets of test results - but only one - also includes the mysterious finding that the chauffeur's blood contained abnormally and dangerously high levels of carbon monoxide. There is also disturbing evidence that an increasing number of ordinary British people - 27 per cent, according to a recent poll - have been persuaded by their arguments. As the onlookers watched, the rescue team cut through the buckled roof and doors of the Mercedes, removed the two survivors and rushed them by ambulance to a public hospital, the Pitie-Salpetriere, one of the best in the city. His grim task was expected to fall to another. All The Tragic Death Details, Your Privacy Choices: Opt Out of Sale/Targeted Ads. Had she been strapped in she would have walked away with a black eye or maybe a broken arm, but nothing more. In 1995, he recorded a verdict of unlawful killing at the inquest into the death of Karen Reed. IAN BIRRELL: Why are we kowtowing to a sinister dictatorship in China that still covers up the origins of Career coach reveals the best way to explain why you left a job after a short period of time - and you only Father 'crushed to death' in indoor cave at tourist attraction 'was read poem by his daughter' while he lay Can the Keto diet help treat mental illness? "The pathology of her death is, I believe, indisputable. When the Daily Mail followed up our story it claimed there was evidence that Diana had sought a pregnancy scan at a "leading London hospital" in the month she died. His experience also includes working on the terror attacks on 9/11, in Bali in 2002 and the London 7/7 bombings in 2005. We may earn commission from links on this page, but we only recommend products we back. And soon, The Crown's sixth, much-anticipated season will touch on Diana's death, too, but the show will notably not show the crash itself. For years conspiracies have swirled as to whether Diana's death was an inside job.