On August 31, 1997,
Diana the Princess of Whales died in a tragic car crash at the age of thirty-six.
Others involved in the crash were Dodi Fayed her boyfriend, Henri Paul her
driver, and Trevor Rees-Jones her body guard. Trevor was the only survivor.
Princess Diana and Dodi
Fayed had been fleeing the Ritz Hotel in attempt to escape the
paparazzi when the horrific crash occurred. Over time many theories have been made
about how the crash occurred with some of the most popular being:
1.
Did the British intelligence services kill the princess?
2.
Did British Royalty orchestrate the murder?
3.
Was Paul, her driver, drunk and driving too fast?
Now, we will view the
conspiracy theories surrounding Princess Diana’s death, with the most notorious
being British royalty assassinating Diana.
Character Analysis
Diana, Princess of Whales, was known for her unique
personality and stunning looks. With her light blue eyes, short blond hair, and
caring personality, Diana was a perfect wife and princess. However, “problems
between the royal couple surfaced just a few years after the wedding”
(“Princess Diana Biography”). They ended up officially divorcing on August 28th
1996. However, Diana a public icon was called the “people’s princess” (1), and
continued with her charity work. Diana now also had a freedom she did not have
while being married to Prince Charles. She began to become more charismatic and
open to the public.
Diana was unique because she was the
first woman to divorce Prince Charles without letting the Queen know first
(“Princess Diana Biography”). Diana had announced her divorce to the public and
then informed the Queen of her decision.
Diana also helped many charities
raise money, Diana was a “strong supporter of many charities
and worked to help the homeless, people living with HIV and AIDS and children
in need” (“Princess Diana Biography”). This was extraordinary during her time
because many people believed that “AIDS or HIV could be contracted through
casual contact” (Oxford). That would result in themselves being infected. Diana
helped to educate people about AIDS and HIV and brought world recognition of
the problem and the need to find a solution for the diseases. Diana also worked
with Hazardous Area Life-support Organization (HALO) Trust that “visited landmine survivors in hospitals,
toured de-mining projects,
and attended mine awareness education classes about the dangers of mines
immediately surrounding homes and villages in Africa” (“Princess of Wales Diana
Biography”).
Diana was known for her exquisite
attire. Diana was a “fashion icon and role model for women and young girls”
(Neel). Diana was featured in many fashion magazines for her sense of style,
Vogue has even mentioned Diana as “a true fashion icon” (4, see attachment
1).
An internal conflict that Diana
faced during her life was bulimia (Morris). Diana had announced this to the
public. She said she was sick because of the comments people would make about
her, and the emotions she had during her divorce (3). When her marriage started
to crumble, Diana said “food became the answer to the emptiness she felt”
(Oxford). Diana encouraged many others that suffered from eating disorders to
speak up and receive help. The sudden flood of people convinced by Diana to
seek help from professionals was called the “Diana Effect” (5).
This internal conflict had started
external problems that concerned Diana’s divorce from Prince Charles. There
were people who took Diana’s side in the divorce and others took Charles’. Fans
of Charles said that Diana was “self-absorbed and only concerned about money
and fashion” (Morris). Almost daily,
Diana would have to hear about her divorce and of people pointing fingers and
blaming either herself or Charles for the cause of the divorce. So much
attention and back lash from the media and society took a toll on Diana.
An additional internal conflict
Diana had was trying to find herself. During her early marriage to Charles
Diana had to have approval for many things, such as clothing choice, what type
of volunteer work she did, and anything concerning the media. This constant
need of approval restricted Diana. Because of this, Diana was not able to
express herself.
There were also external problems,
such as the paparazzi, magazines, and television shows. People would make comments “on TV and in
magazines about her “pudgy” appearance” (5) this caused Diana to become
insecure and unsure of herself.
In conclusion, Diana was known for being
kind, caring and beautiful throughout her life. Diana had faced many tough
times in her life but was able to endure and face every obstacle. Because of
Diana’s wonderful personality years after her untimely death, she is still
known to be the “people’s princess” (1) and forever will be.
Conspiracy Theories
There are three popular
conspiracy theories concerning the tragic death of Diana, Princess of Wales.
The three conspiracy theories being that: the British Secret Service
orchestrated Diana’s death, or that the Royal family initiated assassinated
Diana, finally the last being that Diana’s driver was intoxicated while
speeding and lost control of the car.
The first conspiracy theory suggests that the British
Secret Service, MI6, killed Diana ("Princess Diana Death
Conspiracy"). Allegedly, the reason MI6 killed Diana was ‘fear of Diana's
possible conversion to Islam because of Dodi being a Muslim, and the
implication on the Church and State. If the two Princes, William and Harry,
were to follow their mother's lead this was considered a threat to the
government (“Diana, Princess of Wales”). Eyewitness “Francois Levistre” gave supporting evidence to MI6 being the culprit claiming
that after the crash, which was caused by bright white light, he saw “the motorcycle passenger got off, looked inside the crumpled
vehicle and made an “X” hand gesture to the bike's driver before they sped off”
(3). This sign X is: the military signal for
"mission accomplished" (3). This suggests foul play was used to cause
the crash and that an assassin checked to see if the intended targets were
killed. There was no captured footage from video surveillance cameras around
the crash, which only added to the suspicions of government involvement in the
crime.
In the second theory, the Royal family is accused of the
committing the crime. The reasoning behind this conspiracy theory is that Diana
was deliberately killed to “prevent her from marrying Dodi Fayed, and
bearing his child—a step sibling to a future king” ("Princess Diana Death
Conspiracy"). If Diana were to have children with Dodi, her fiancé, the
children’s bloodline would give them a decent claim to the throne. This would
be considered a public embarrassment to the throne and a threat to the royal
bloodline, so the monarch could not allow this to happen. Dodi’s father,
Mohamed Al Fayed, claimed that “Diana was pregnant at the time of the accident”
and had informed him shortly before the accident occurred (1). After Diana’s
death, the Queen failed to appropriately acknowledge Diana’s death. The Queen
did not raise the flag in front of Buckingham Palace to half-mast and did not
give a statement on the princesses’ death (1) (attachment 2). There was also a
letter written by Diana to her butler that showed even Diana was suspicious of
the royal family trying to kill her. In the letter, Diana wrote "This
particular phase in my life is the most dangerous. My husband is planning 'an
accident' in my car, brake failure and serious head injury" the exact
details in this letter cannot just be a coincidence ("Princess
Diana Death Conspiracy") (See attachment 3). This letter only added to the proof of the
royal family killing Diana.
In the last theory, Henri Paul, the driver during the
crash, is believed to be the cause of Diana’s death. Henri is accused of
speeding while drunk, which caused him to lose control of the car and crash.
According to blood test done, Henri’s alcohol blood content was equivalent to
“10 glasses of wine or nine hefty shots of whiskey in his system three times the
French blood-alcohol limit” ("Princess Diana's Driver…”). Eyewitnesses
also reported seeing and hearing Henri before the crash yelling “you won't
catch us", this strange and erratic behavior only adds to suspicion (3)
(See attachment 3). After investigators had access to the scene of the crime,
they reported that “they found the speedometer frozen at 196 kilometers per
hour or 121 mph” proving that Henri was going well over the speed limit (3).
This provided substantial evidence to Henri being the cause of the crash.
Although Diana’s death is still legally considered an
accident, most people believe her death was framed to appear as an accident
after she was assassinated. The most popular theory is that the royal family
killed Diana because of the threat she posed to the crown by bearing children
to a new fiancé, Dodi. To add to suspicion of Diana being assassinated, there
is no solid evidence of how the car crash occurred although there were many
cameras and press near the car and crash site and through investigations
("Princess Diana Death Conspiracy").
A survey of twenty people concluded that 75% of people
believe that the British royal family killed Diana because of the threat
Diana’s new engagement posed to the royal family. The actions of the royal
family, especially the Queen’s actions, add to suspicions of the royal family
being the culprit behind Diana’s death.
Nineteen years later, Diana, Princess of Wales, horrific
death is still considered an accident, and the case remains closed.
On August 31, 1997, Diana the Princess of Whales
died in a tragic car crash. After this three popular conspiracy theories
developed, which included:
1.
Did the British intelligence services kill the princess?
2.
Did British Royalty orchestrate the murder?
3.
Was Paul, her driver, drunk and driving too fast?
However, Diana’s death was ruled an accident
despite the excessive amount of evidence found leading people to believe the
royal family killed Diana. Supposedly, there is not enough evidence to charge
anyone with the crime of killing Diana.
Works
Cited
“Princess
Diana Biography”. Bio.com, A&E Networks Television, 20 Aug. 2015, http://www.biography.com/people/princess-diana-9273782.
“Princess of Wales Diana Biography”. Encyclopedia of
World Biography, World Biographer, 9
Oct. 2005, http://www.notablebiographies.com/de-du/diana- princess-of-wales.html.
Daily
News. "Princess Diana's Driver Was Drunk When She Died in
1997." NY Daily News. Daily News, 31 Aug. 2015. Web. 20 Nov. 2016.
Morris, Kelly, and Tabitha Farrar. “Bulimia: The Princess
Diana Eating Disorder.” RSS 20,
Mirror Mirror Eating Disorders, 9 Apr. 2007, http://www.mirror- mirror.org/princess-diana-eating-disorder.htm.
Neel, Julia. “Style File - Diana, Princess of
Wales.” British Vogue, Vogue, 15 Apr. 2011, http://www.vogue.co.uk/gallery/style-file-diana-princess-of-wales.
Net,
London. "Diana, Princess of Wales: Did MI6 Kill the
Princess?" Did MI6 Kill the Princess? LondonNet, 24 Sept. 2012.
Web. 20 Nov. 2016.
Oxford, Tejvan Pettinger. “Princess Diana
Biography •.” Biography Online, Princess Diana
Biography, 1 June 2006, http://www.biographyonline.net/people/biography_princess_diana.htm l.
"Princess
Diana Death Conspiracy." Conspiracy Theory Thursday. Popdust, 12 Aug.
2016. Web. 20 Nov. 2016.
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