The conspiracy theories behind the accident in which Lady Di died
A review from a supposed plan of the royal family to assassinate her to a feigned death.
On the night of August 30-31, 1997, she went on the shelves of history due to a tragic event. Diana of Wales, the so-called 'people's princess', lost her life in a car accident that, to date, raises more doubts than certainties.
The official version says that Princess Diana - a title she received after her link in 1981 with Prince Charles of England, the eldest son of Queen Elizabeth II and heir to the British crown - was going with the millionaire of Egyptian origin Dodi Al-Fayed, his A couple from that time, in a black Mercedes that, fleeing from the paparazzi at high speed, crashed into a pole in the tunnel of the Almá Bridge in Paris, France.
Al-Fayed was killed instantly, as was Henri Paul, the driver of the vehicle. Diana was taken to the Hospital de la Pitié-Salpêtrière, where she died hours later. The only survivor was bodyguard Trevor Rees.
The death of 'Lady Di' shocked the world and meant an enlargement of her unusual figure, which enjoyed wide popularity and esteem since she appeared in the public eye. However, she also put the British monarchy in check, as she plunged it into a discredit that she still carries.
Although the final verdict indicated that the driver was driving drunk at the time of the accident, around the death of Diana Spencer - her birth name - all kinds of theories and assumptions have been woven. Books, press reports and films have portrayed what happened, putting on the table unsubstantiated versions ranging from a feigned death to plans to assassinate Diana that incriminate the British crown.
Here is a review of five of them.
1. Blame the pink press?
Diana's life, both during her marriage to Prince Charles and after their separation, was a recurring theme in the tabloids and tabloids, to the point that it generated a phenomenon called 'dianamania', which spread beyond the UK.
However, starting in 1986, the British press began to report indications of a marriage crisis between the then princes of Wales. That was the beginning of a series of disagreements, accusations and infidelities widely publicized in the media.
For this reason, after her death, many blamed the paparazzi, as they were considered the architects of this kind of high-speed persecution, under very dangerous conditions and that that night caused the tragedy. Despite this, the British courts determined that this was not the case, because, as he explained, "the speed and the driving style of the vehicles that were pursuing" Diana, although they were a factor, are not a direct consequence of the accident.
It is worth mentioning that the paparazzi who were chasing the couple and who arrived at the scene of the incident before the rescue services were released from charges after the judicial process that took place between 2003 and 2004, although two years later, three of them were sentenced to a symbolic penalty of one euro for violating the right to privacy when taking pictures of the accident.
2. The alleged 'bad luck' of the vehicle
In 2017, the documentary Diana's death: an incredible revelation was released, based on the book Who Killed Lady Di ?, by journalists Bruno Mouron, Jean-Michel Caradech and Pascal Rostain, who witnessed the accident. There he focused on the vehicle, because, according to journalists, the Mercedes S280 had "bad luck."
According to that version, in 1994, the first owner, Eric Bousquet, had his vehicle stolen just three months after purchasing it. The thief, when he appeared, tried to flee with him on a highway and, in his attempt, suffered an accident that caused the vehicle to be completely destroyed. Despite this, its owner decided to have it rebuilt in its entirety and, years later, it came into the hands of Diana of Wales.
For many, this, added to the alleged drunken state of the driver and the fact that the passengers would have been without seat belts, could be the reason for the tragedy.
3. An alleged conspiracy
One of the theories that has taken the most force is that of a revenge by enemies of Mohammed Al-Fayed, millionaire Egyptian businessman and father of Dodi, then Diana's partner.
According to this theory, apparently they were seeking to assassinate Dodi as revenge against her father and Diana's death was only collateral damage. Even Mohammed Al-Fayed insisted that the death of Diana and her son would have been a conspiracy of the British secret services by order of Prince Philip, husband of Elizabeth II of England.
According to Al-Fayed, the princess was pregnant with Dodi and the announcement of their engagement was imminent. The royal family, assured the businessman, "could not accept that an Egyptian Muslim became the stepfather of the future king of England", referring to William, the eldest son of Diana and Charles of England, number two in the line of succession. .
However, the official report of the British authorities warns that, after numerous interviews and rigorous scientific analysis, there is "overwhelming evidence that the Princess of Wales was not pregnant and that she did not believe that she was pregnant either." Furthermore, there is "no evidence whatsoever from relatives, friends, confidants or other associates of the princess of an announcement" of an engagement.
4. Anonymous and the royal family
Last June, in the midst of a global coronavirus emergency, the world witnessed the unexpected return of the famous group of 'hacktivists' Anonymous, or at least someone who used their name, after the murder of George Floyd in the United States.
The account shared, among other things, information about the case of Jeffrey Epstein and his alleged prostitution ring, in which Lady Di was mentioned, who, they say, at the time of her death had evidence that linked the British royal family to those crimes.
According to that interpretation, Diana of Wales would have been murdered to prevent her from speaking about an alleged sex trafficking ring that involved two of Queen Elizabeth II's children. In fact, that account attached on Twitter a note published in 2002 by the British newspaper The Guardian, which claimed that the princess had a tape of the testimony of a victim who had been abused in the palace by a person close to Prince Charles.
5. A feigned death
Amid the endless conspiracy theories, perhaps the strangest is the one that claims that Diana of Wales faked her own death. According to this version, with the help of the powerful and wealthy Al-Fayed family, the princess would have carefully planned a false accident so that the couple could escape and lead a life away from the media and public opinion.
In fact, at the time of her, it was commented that six hours before she died, Diana would have told a Daily Mail reporter that she was about to retire from public life, which reinforced this theory. However, as with the others, there is no known evidence to believe that it is true.
