In the past, the world has seen or
read about many horrific car accidents, from personal love ones to
celebrities. One of the most well-know
and devastating car accident that made the world stand still on August 31,
1997, in Paris, France. Princess Diana,
along with boyfriend Emad El-Din Mohammed Adbel Moneim (Dobi) Al-Fayed, the
Harrod’s heir, and their driver Henri Paul, was killed in a car accident in
attempt to escape from the paparazzi's, or were they (Whitney 1)? Weeks after the event, there were and still
are today, many speculations or conspiracy theories in regards of the accident.
1. Was
Princess Diana killed on the orders of the royal family (“Princess Diana-The
Conspiracy Theories 1)?
2. Did
Princess Diana faked her own death (1)?
3. Was
Princess Diana’s death a freak unexpected accident (1)?
For
well over a decade, conspiracy theorists have research and analyze information
over the death of “the people’s princess” and haven’t come to a
conclusion. Now, let’s examine these
questions to discover the truth about one of the most beloved princess that the
world ever seen.
Princess Diana was “the people’s
princess” who felt unwanted in her personal life with men. On July 1, 1960, the British aristocrat
Spencer family was desiring a much wanted son, but instead Diana Frances
Spencer was born; a third succession daughter into the family (“Diana, Princess
of Wales”1). The British aristocrat
family lived in East of England with the British royal family as one of their
neighbors (1). All her life, Diana had a
sense of rejection from people who were close to her (1). “When I was born, I was not wanted, they
wanted a boy. When I was married to
Charles, I was not wanted because of his love affairs, and when I went to the
royal court, I was not wanted by the royal family”, Diana said to her long time
personal friend, Lady Elsa Bowker (1).
Even though Diana was close to her
mother, she loved and longed for her father’s affection when her parents
divorced at six years old making her feel alone and abandoned (“Diana, Princess
of Wales” 1). Long time nanny, Mary
Clarke, picked up Diana from boarding school for a holiday break and had a
conversation about Diana’s biology class topic on rabbit reproduction; the
conversation lead up to love and marriage (1).
Diana told Clarke “She was quite for sure she was going to marry for
love, love alone before she will end up in divorced (1).”
After returning home from finishing
school, her older sister Sarah, was one of many dating Prince Charles (“Diana,
Princess of Wales”1). Prince Charles was
being pushed into finding a bride by the queen mother (1). Even though Prince Charles was dating many
women and had an intimate open relationship with the married Lady Camilla
Parker-Bowles (1). It was Lady Diana who
caught his eye for a potential bride (1).
Over the seven months of their courtship, Diana felt very overwhelmed;
due to the media constantly hunting her down (1). On February 24, 1981, Prince Charles and Lady
Diana announced their engagement (1).
Six months later, on July 29, 1981, the couple was married at St. Paul’s
Cathedral (1). Diana was finally loved,
and at the time she thought she was wanted.
Princess Diana once said, "The
public side, they wanted a fairy princess to come and touch them and everything
will turn into gold and all their worries would be forgotten. Little did they realize that the individual
was crucifying herself inside because she didn't think she was good enough” (“Princess
Diana-Secret Tapes” 1). Diana had a lot
of demons she dealt with from the time of her courtship to her untimely death
that public did not knew. Diana had
severe bulimia issue, that started weeks after her engagement and throughout
her entire life (1). Five months into
their courtship, Princess Diana lost five and half inches (1). Her mental
health was very unstable. Throughout the
course of their marriage, Princess Diana had suffered from severe depression,
loneliness, insecurities, neediness, and was immature to express her thoughts
(1). In an interview, she openly
admitted on audio tapes she tried to commit suicide and self multination
several times during the course of her marriage due to her unhappiness in her
life (1). She also admitted on the audio
tapes, Prince Charles was very inconsiderate of her desperate cry for help when
she would act out (1). The constant
public appearance, media frenzy, the British monarch rules and regulations,
Prince Charles love affair, and her unhappiness were the cause of Diana’s
volatile health. Eventually, fifteen
years of a strained marriage; Princess Diana and Prince Charles ended in
divorce (“Princess Diana Biography”1).
Once again, she was left unwanted by the man in her life.
Princess Diana, “the
people’s princess”, had dealt with the feeling of being unwanted by the men in
her like; she was a beautiful woman inside and out. She carried a certain kind of grace and
dignity when she was in public. She was
a very caring, lovable, charismatic woman. Being five foot ten and slim, her beauty was
singular, especially her big blue eyes, the most expressive of all facial
features (Smith 1). "They look so wondering and modest (1)", a
Norwegian photographer once remarked (1).
Diana was a caring and loving mother and
once said, “I will fight for my children on any level so they can reach their
potential as human beings and in the public duties (“Princess Diana
Biography”1).” Princess Diana gave birth
to Prince William on June 21, 1982 and Prince Henry on September 15, 1984
(1). Unlike her predecessor’s, she paved
a new way of parenting for royal children (Wallace 1). Prince William was the first heir to be born
outside of the palace walls (1). There
were reports she was more than likely to be the first to breast feed the future
King of England (1). She took Prince
William on his first tour to Australia (1).
“She made sure that they experienced
things like going to the cinema, queuing up to buy a McDonalds, going to
amusement parks, those sorts of things that were experiences that they could
share with their friends (1)", said Patrick Jephson, Princess Diana’s
chief of staff. Also, she sent
her children to public school (1).
Princess Diana always thought about her children’s well-being while they
were growing up in the royal monarch.
Princess Diana was sympathetic and
showed compassion to the sick and the suffering. In Princess Diana’s teenager years, Muriel
Stevens taught her how to interact with people from volunteering at a hospital
(“Diana, Princess of Wales” 1). From
that experience and guidance, Princess Diana loved and had a knack for
interacting with people on personal level.
She was the first high profile person to be photography touching
Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome victims (“Princess Diana Biography”1). Some of her
other charities were Centerpoint, a London group that aids homeless youth, the
Leprosy Mission, various cancer benefits, Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome
and was an advocate to ban land mines with the International Red Cross (Neiboer
1).
“I would like to be a queen in the
hearts of people” (“Princess Diana Biography”1), said Princess Diana. Princess Diana was the queen of people’s
hearts; she interacted with the public and her children like no other royalty
did. Even though she dealt with the
internal feelings of not being wanted by the men in her life, and her personal
demons with her overall health, she was truly “the people’s princess” and dealt
with her issues with dignity and grace.
In the unfortunate death of the
beloved princess, there are three popular conspiracy theories that are still
circulating today. One of the most
popular theory is the royal family had a hand in the princess’ death. The second theory is she faked her own
death. Lastly, and most logical theory,
is it was a freak and unexpected accident that was caused by the paparazzi
chasing them, and the driver Henri Paul was intoxicated.
The first conspiracy of Princess Diana’s
death theorizes that the British monarch had a hand in her death for several
possible reasons. First, the royal
family had her killed because of her current boyfriend Dobi. Dobi’s father, Mohamed Al-Fayed, has attempted
to preserve his version of the ill-fated death of his beloved son and the people’s
princess (Ellison 1):
Mohamed,
a self-styled enemy of the British establishment has long maintained that Dobi
was murdered by the British secret service, as part of a conspiracy involving
members of the royal family, because he was a Muslim about to marry the mother
of a future King of England and Princess Diana was pregnant with his son’s
child.(1)
Second,
it’s been proposed that Prince Charles wanted her killed because he wanted to
clear the path for him to remarried (Rayner 1).
Ten months after the announcement of the royal couple’s separation,
Princess Diana wrote a letter to her butler, Paul Burrell (1). In the letter, it stated:
I
am sitting here at my desk today in October, longing for someone to hug me and
encourage me to keep strong and hold my head high. This particular phase in my life is the most
dangerous – My husband is planning “an accident” in my car, break failure and
serious head injury in order to make the path clear for him marry Tiggy…(1)
At
the time of Princess Diana’s and Dobi’s inquest that was held at the Royal
Courts of Justice in 2007, there were mixed opinions about the letter. Lucia Flecha Da Lima, a close confidante of
Princess Diana stated, “the princess had never expressed fears for her safety”
(1). Lima also mentioned during the
inquest “Paul Burrell was perfectly capable of imitating Princess Diana’s
handwriting. I don’t believe she was
fearing for her life, especially from Prince Charles’, the future king of your
country” (1). But, at the same time, the
inquest had already been told that in October 1995, Diana told Lord Mischcon,
her solicitor, and that “reliable sources” had informed her of the prince’s
plans “that she and Camilla would be put aside” (1).
The last notion is the royal family (the
establishment) could not control and did not approve of Diana’s public
attention. It’s been documented by
Princess Diana in the 1995 interviewed with Martin Bashir, a British
journalist, that Prince Charles department and the establishment was the enemy because she always got more publicity
about her work and was much more discussed than he was (“Diana’s, BBC
interview”1). Lawyer Michael Mansfield,
who was involved in the inquest of Princess Diana’s death, had similar
speculations. His thoughts were, “after
the divorce, Princess Diana didn’t fade into the background, she was not only
in the news, she made the news” (“Conspiracies-The Royal Family”). He also mentioned in an interview, eight
months before her death Princess Diana spearheaded a campaign for international
ban on landmines in Angola, a place where people like Princess Diana feared to
enter (1). He continued to explain, some
from the establishment saw this as a princess out of control (1). A political royal acting on a world stage
became a threat because of her political activities (1).
The
second conspiracy offers that Princess Diana faked her own death. In videos and photographs of Princess Diana,
she was seen being uncomfortable through her non-verbal expressions. From the time of her courtship to Prince
Charles, it was obvious she showed discomfort of the media constantly following
her. She expressed to British
journalist, Martin Bashir:
The most daunting aspect was the media attention,
because my husband and I, we were told when we got engaged that the media would
go quietly, and it didn't; and then when we were married they said it would go
quietly and it didn't; and then it started to focus very much on me, and I
seemed to be on the front of a newspaper every single day, which is an isolating
experience, and the higher the media put you, place you, is the bigger the
drop. (“Diana’s, 1995 BBC interview”)
Another fact that would support this theory, six
hours before she died, Princess Diana let slip to Daily Mail reporter, Richard
Kray, that she was about to withdraw completely from public life (“Princess
Diana-The Conspiracy Theories”). This is
not the first time she said those particular words. In 1993, Diana announced that due to
exhaustion from the intense media scrutiny, she would be withdrawing from
public life, though she would continue her charity work (“Diana’s, BBC
interview”). For the next two years,
with a few exceptions, she kept a fairly low media profile (“Diana’s, BBC
interview”).
The
final and logical theory, Princess Diana death was an unforeseen accident. The facts of that horrific night were:
Princess Diana, boyfriend Dobi, the driver Henri Paul, and her bodyguard Trevor
Rees Jones, were being chased down by the paparazzi when they left the Ritz
Hotel (“Conspiracies-The Royal Family”1).
The Driver, Henri Paul, was traveling at high speeds under the influence
of alcohol when he lost control when they entered Place de l'Alma underpass slamming into the
thirteenth pillar (1). French officials
said Henri Paul’s blood alcohol level was over three times the legal limit, and
all the occupants were not wearing their seat belts at the time of the crash (1)(UK
Government Web Archives). Princess Diana
died around 4:00 a.m. on August 31, 1997, at La Pitie-Salpetriere hospital due
to chest injury, laceration within the left pulmonary vein and the immediate
adjacent portion of the left atrium of the heart (1). Immediately after her death, rumors began to
circulate that it was much deeper than an accident (“Conspiracies-The Royal
Family). Dr. Raj Persaud, consultant
psychiatrist explains:
Because conspiracy thinking and theorizing is
about the idea that everything is connected and everything has a meaning. Major figures can’t die from trivial
events. They have to die because some
major casual mechanism has to be in play. (1).
The death of Diana had an impact that was felt
across the world. For many the idea that
she could have been killed in an accident seemed impossible.
In
a recent survey of twenty people: 50% of people believe the royal family had a
part in her death, and 35% believe it was a tragic accident. With the facts and speculations that surrounded
Princess Diana death, many would believe she was killed by the royal family or
it was a tragic accident. Interestingly,
only 15% of the people believe she faked her own death.
Many people
from around the world loved Princess Diana; the shocked of her death was sudden
and grim. Many forget that even though
she was a princess and many seen her as “the people’s princess”, she was still
a human being who can have the same ill-fated death just as anyone else can
experience.
Princess Diana was a beautiful woman
inside and out, who had a lot of personal demons she dealt throughout her
entire life. She made an impression all
around the world and will never be forgotten.
There are three conspiracy theories about her death:
1. Was
Princess Diana killed on the orders of the royal family?
2. Did
she faked her own death?
3. Was
Princess Diana death a freak unexpected car accident?
Her
death was shocking and unexpected; it will always be known as the most
well-known and devastated car accident that the world had ever seen. Many believed she was a major figure of the
royal family, and a person of her status was immune to tragic events. Sadly, this is not the case. From the facts and evidence that was
surrounded that dreadful car accident; her death was a freak unexpected car
accident.
Work Cited
“Conspiracies-The
Royal Family” Conspiracy | Netflix,
www.netflix.com/watch/80119087?track=1470286&tctx=1%CO%2c77aadbf5-78fe-4ee2-8c09-323d3f77e28-127375863
“Diana,
Princess of Wales.” Bio.com, A&E Networks Television,
http://www.biography.com/people/princess-diana-9273782/videos/diana-princess-of-wales-full-biography-2243188576.
“Diana's
1995 BBC Interview.” PBS, PBS,
www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/royals/interviews/bbc.html.
Ellison,
Sarah. “Diana's Love for Hasnat Khan-The Only One Who Would Never Betray
Her.” Vanities, 14 Aug. 2013,
www.vanityfair.com/style/royals/2013/09/princess-diana-love-hasnat-khan.
Nieboer,
Sue. “Diana, Princess of Wales.” Learning to Give,
https://www.learningtogive.org/resources/diana-princess-wales.
“Princess
Diana Biography •.” Biography Online,
http://www.biographyonline.net/people/biography_princess_diana.html.
“Princess Diana - The Conspiracy Theories.” LondonNet,
24 Sept. 2012, www.londonnet.co.uk/ln/talk/news/diana_conspiracy_theories.html.
“Princess Diana - The Secret Tapes.” YouTube,
YouTube, 20 Oct. 2013. Http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBfzOKtlDoZweXIobmq446w.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=okqxxmfxszw.
Rayner,
Gordon. “Princess Diana Letter: 'Charles Plans to Kill Me'.” The
Telegraph, Telegraph Media Group,
www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1573170/Princess-Diana-letter-Charles-plans-to-kill-me.html.
Smith,
Sally Bedell. “Diana in Search of Herself Portrait of a Troubled
Princess.” The New York Times On The Web,
http://www.nytimes.com/books/first/s/smith-diana.html.
“UK
Government Web Archive – The National Archives.” UK Government Web Archive –
The National Archives, webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20080521144222/http://www.scottbaker-inquests.gov.uk/hearing_transcripts/verdict.htm.
Wallace,
Rob. “'Rebel Royal Mum': Diana's Legacy as Parent.” ABC News, ABC
News Network, 26 May 2013, http://abcnews.go.com/international/rebel-royal-mum-dianas-legacy-parent/story?id=19241646.
Whitney,
Carl B. “Diana Killed in a Car Accident in Paris”
http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0831.html
No comments:
Post a Comment