the Crash, the Crown, the Cover-Up

Princess Diana’s divorce to Prince Charles was finalized in 1996 after many rumors of Charles’ infidelity and growing distrust between the couple. Diana had always struggled with the control and constraints on her personal life as a result of being part of the House of Windsor, and her divorce allowed her to focus on a lot of her passions, her sons, and her growing relationship with Dodi Al Fayed, son of Mohamed Al Fayed. Diana first connected with Dodi after she was invited by Mohamed to a yacht vacation along the French and Italian Riviera. Soon after, they quickly got close and their relationship was a prime topic for the paparazzi. A couple weeks later, Diana and Dodi went on a vacation in Paris where paparazzi quickly started intruding on their private dinner at the Ritz Paris, a hotel owned by Dodi’s father, Mohamed. In order to avoid paparazzi, they snuck out through the back exit, only to be found hours later with their car upside down. Their car had crashed into the Pont de l’Alma tunnel, killing their driver and Dodi immediately, and Diana passed away only a few hours later in the hospital. The cause of Princess Diana's death has been debated for a long time. Many say it was simply because of the paparazzi's intruding and pestering behavior at the Ritz Paris, while others say that Diana's driver, Henri Paul, was drunk while driving. However, a lot of recent proof suggests that Princess Diana's death was no accident, but in fact, orchestrated by MI6 on behalf of the House of Windsor. 

There were too many extenuating circumstances surrounding Diana's death that were either buried or ignored, leading to a strong assertion that the car crash was not an accident. The most common belief of the cause of Diana’s death is that her driver, Henri Paul, was simply way too drunk while driving, as there were supposed accounts and pictures of him having too many drinks at the Ritz. The French Investigation concluded that there was no foul play involved, and their death was simply an accident due to high alcohol levels and speed driving. However, there was no proof of those pictures ever existing, and there is speculation that the blood alcohol levels in Henri’s sample were manipulated. Because of all the uncertainty surrounding the conclusion of the French Investigation into the car crash in Paris, Mohamed Al Fayed launched his own investigation, the British Investigation, where investigators claimed that Diana and Dodi were murdered. According to Tom Sancton, a news reporter from Vanity Fair who spoke to investigators on both the French and British sides, one crucial piece of evidence was ignored by the French authorities while conducting the investigation - a letter from Diana to her butler, Paul Burrell, saying that “Prince Charles was planning an ‘accident’ in [Diana’s] car, brake failure and serious head injury in order to make the path clear for him to marry” (Sancton). The French authorities did not think too much of this letter, as there was no definitive proof that Charles had anything to do with the accident, and Diana was pushed aside as just being under emotional stress while writing the letter; however, the letter is strong proof that some foul play was involved as Diana’s prediction was undoubtedly very accurate. Additionally, it is difficult to determine exactly what happened the night of the attack. Most people just heard a car crash and a bright light from the tunnel, but besides that there are no actual witnesses that can reassure the people what happened. Any paparazzi who took pictures of the accident no longer have the pictures as they were confiscated, but the answer to who confiscated them is also an unknown fact. Some say it was the cops, while others say the paparazzi were paid to hand over the pictures. The cameras around the tunnel and Ritz Paris also have no pictures or recordings of the night of the crash, raising more suspicions of foul play. According to the Metropolitan Police report of Operation Paget, also known as the British Investigation, there should have been around 10 CCTV cameras around the underpass to the Ritz, yet all of them have some reason for why they did not catch the events of that night: broken cameras, wrong angle, and even just that there was no staff operating the cameras at that time (Metropolitan Police). However, these cameras were privately owned, not city operated, which suggests to most people that these reasons may really be excuses. The Metropolitan Police investigated a lot of these areas and found discrepancies in what the private property owners were saying, suggesting they may have been paid to delete the footage and leading to the conclusion that someone was trying to hide the truth of the events of that night. 

Additionally, MI6, in some capacity, was involved with orchestrating Diana's crash, and was commanded to do so by the Royal Crown and the House of Windsor. Along with all the proof suggesting that there was foul play involved with the car accident, there was also quite a lot of evidence pointing to the idea that MI6 was the entity responsible for it. There was already a very long history of animosity between MI6 and the Al Fayed family, as Roland Rowland, a MI6 agent, and Mohamed Al Fayed were competing rivals. According to EIR News service, Rowland hated Al Fayed ever since he inquired Harrods instead of him, and the House of Windsor was able to use Rowland’s anger against Al Fayed (EIR News service). The House of Windsor had a direct connection to MI6 through Rowland, and they could have easily been able to ask MI6 to kill Dodi on behalf of the crown; Rowland was willing to help because he already hated the Al Fayed family. Nevertheless, people still question whether the royal family really had the motive to kill Diana and Dodi. To address this, EIR News also reveals that the royal family may have had incentive to kill Dodi since there were rumors that Diana and Dodi were about to get married, as pictures of them exiting an engagement ring shop went viral in the media. Diana marrying Dodi, a muslim, would hurt the image of the royal crown and the prestige of their heirs if Diana and Dodi were to ever have a child. Many say that through the motive of their reputation and the means through MI6, it is very possible that the royal crown could be responsible for the "accident." In addition, Tomlinson, a former MI6 agent, was said to have evidence that Diana’s driver was actually working for UK intelligence; he was persistent that some intelligence company, if not MI6, had some role in Diana’s death. In his letter, Tomlinson said he had proof that MI6 was planning an assination against another foreign entity (BBC News). However, afterwards, he was facing charges under the Official Secrets Act and was silenced from revealing anything else. According to BBC News, this was the closest time that someone had ever been to revealing who could have been behind Diana’s attack, but once again, they were mysteriously silenced, leaving Diana’s death an even bigger mystery than before. If Tomlinson, a person who worked for secret intelligence before, believed that Diana and Dodi's death was not an accident, then there should be a bigger push to reveal what may have really happened that night of August 31st, 1997, in Paris. 

Ultimately, while many may argue that it was a combination of drunk driving and the paparazzi that killed Diana, there is still strong reason to suggest that it really was the doing of the Royal Family and MI6 that killed Diana. After all, the lack of CCTV footage, manipulation of blood samples, Diana’s letter, and Tomlinson’s findings do strongly point the finger at the royal family having some hand in why the car may have crashed that night in the Pont de l’Alma tunnel. Diana’s death is one of the many things that the royal family has been accused of in the last decades, as many people say they would do anything to preserve their dignity, reputation, and power above all.