Even twenty years later, conspiracy theories continue to rage regarding the death of Princess Diana. On the night of 31 August 1997, she died due to a car crash in Paris. But many believed that it was pre-planned and intentionally done for their own benefits. Reporters who wanted to write a more interesting article examined about 175 conspiracy theories, in which some are found to be more profound. As people’s imagination cannot be controlled, they came with more conspiracy theories that are more convincing than the original reason. Let us go through some of the convincing and widespread conspiracy theories
Conspiracy Theory – Diana was pregnant
Fact: No, it isn’t
The discussion of Princess Diana being pregnant came up before she died. When she said that she had a big surprise, almost everyone believed that she was pregnant with Dodi Fayed, son of Mohammed al-Fayed. Mohammed al-Fayel stated that the royal family could not accept that an Egyptian Muslim to be the stepfather of the future King of England. But this was denied as there was no sign of pregnancy during the post-mortem. Her close friends said that she hadn’t even mentioned the possibility of being pregnant. It didn’t stop here, there are plenty of other conspiracy theories that you can choose according to your own belief.
Conspiracy Theory – Henry Paul
Fact: No, it isn’t
The driver of Mercedes S280, Henry Paul was accused of being a part of the accident and got paid by the national security service of France, UK or both. Theorist assumed this scenario due to the money in his possession at the time of the death. So the special investigation was held in the name of Operation Paget. As there is no particular evidence that Henry Paul was an agent for any security service, the case was soon closed. Another theory is based on drunk and drive. People believed that Henry Paul being drunk was a coverup story for the killing as he did not behave like he was drunk. However, there is no clear evidence for both of the causes. The blood test carried out by the French Investigators concluded that he was drunk before taking the control of the car.
Conspiracy Theory – MI6 Involvement
Fact: No, not true
- Richard Tolimson, a former MI6 officer, claimed that Britain’s MI6 played a major role in the crash. In an inquiry in May 1999, he said that the driver Henry Paul and one of her bodyguards worked for the security services and british intelligence. Richard also said that she had been monitored allegedly a few days before her death. In the investigation that held on February 13 2008, Richard Tollimson told that he may have misremembered and has no evidence that Paul was an MI6 agent.
- The main factor that raises many other conspiracy theories is that she believed that she was going to be killed by her family. The letter that was disclosed by Paul Burrel, Diana one time’s butler states one of the strong statements. She had written that someone is planning an accident in my car, brake failure and serious head injury to make the path clear for Charles to marry.
Conspiracy Theory – Medical reports were sabotaged
Fact: No, not true
Many people believed that doctors allowed Diana to die intentionally. After the accident, the first call to the emergency services ws done at 12.26 am, while the SAMU ambulance carrying the princess arrived at the hospital at 2.06 am. When the accident took place, most of the treatment was done at the scene of the crash rather than taking her to the hospital. The length of time has led to new conspiracy theories. Unlike other countries like the UK, emergency crews of France mainly focus on giving treatment at the scene. But it is impossible to say whether it would be a success if Diana was taken to the hospital. After such conspiracy theory arises, doctors said that it was impossible to survive her injuries.
Conspiracy Theory – Absence of CCTV
Fact: No, it isn’t
There were more than 14 CCTV cameras in Pont de l’Alma underpass to the hotel. But the absence of CCTV video from the hotel to the crash site was cited as evidence of the organised conspiracy. When the judge Herve Stefphan was an examining magistrate who employed Brigade Criminelle to identify all the videos and images regarding the accident, but none of the CCTV footage is relevant for the inquiry. The security camera was installed for their own purposes facing the entrance of the building.
Conspiracy Theory – Bright Flash
Fact: No, it isn’t
An alternative explanation is that the crash was caused by white bright flash. Many people who have witnessed the car accident stated that the bright white flash just came before the car entered the tunnel. A former MI6 officer, Richard Tomlinson said in investigation that the bright flash is caused by people of MI6 intentionally to crash the car. However the officer who investigated the crash rejected this evidence. Even when the eyewitness gave them a testimony that they had witnessed bright light in the tunnel, it was uncovered by the officials and concluded that the alleged flash did not happen.
Conspiracy Theory – Fiat Uno
Fact: No, it isn’t
After analysing the Mercedes Benz, a white Fiat Uno car which left traces of paint on the car was found. Even after the many attempts, french police could not find the car. When almost everyone said that they had not seen an UNO entering the tunnel, some claimed to see it. In 2005, Mohamed Al-Fayed told that the white Fiat Uno was being used by MI6 and thereby crashed the car into the tunnel.
Conspiracy Theory – Princess Diana faked her death
Fact: No, not true
This is the funniest of all, that Princess Diana faked her death to live in a small tropical Island with Dodi fayed and communicating to her sons by satellite video conferencing. As we never saw her body, this theory emerged. This theory came only a few hours after her death.
People tend to create much more exciting stories when they are bored of the same story. You may even find some of the above theories more than enough to convince you. It is always better to go through news with evidence rather than believing random conspiracy theories
“Very informative”, Interesting to read it.
I would recommend that every person who is interested in the truth put forth the effort to read this.
I’m with you here! I’m actually a huge fan of Diana (I wasn’t born when she was around, but she’s part of the social fabric in the UK so it’s hard not to be completely swept up in her story), and she deserves a thoughtful portrayal that doesn’t capitulate to one narrative or another. This always happens with depictions of Royal women (Anne Boleyn is a great example and Meghan Markle too)…they’re either victim or horror, when it’s almost always somewhere in between (as all of us are).
How has nobody mentioned Charles and Diana yet?!
It was a divorce that’s first of its kind in the family, preceded with mud slinging in the press, with cheating (not even allegations) on both sides, with young children stuck between them (and likely led to generational trauma between the divorce and her death). I remember the press at the time and the handwringing over her HRH, whether she’d still be a ‘Princess of Wales’, who’s paying for the settlement (turns out, the queen), which jewels belonged to her vs. the royal collection. The press and the public dined on the unraveling of that marriage for years!
I can see why there are conspiracy theories, but I don’t think Diana was murdered. If you look into what actually happened, the paparazzi were chasing her and the reason she was in the car that night, but the accident happened because the driver was drunk and lost control of the car.
Diana was kind of canonized post death, but unless I’m misremembering it came out that during their mutually unhappy marriage she threatened to throw herself down the stairs while pregnant and was having her own dalliances. No one wants to hear that sort of stuff about their mum though.