Princess Diana — formally Diana, Princess of Wales — had been divorced from Prince Charles since 28 August 1996. She arrived in Paris on the afternoon of 30 August 1997 with Egyptian-born film producer Dodi Fayed, son of Harrods owner Mohamed Al-Fayed. They had dinner at the Ritz Paris on Place Vendôme. A crowd of paparazzi photographers had surrounded the hotel.
Acting Ritz Paris head of security Henri Paul, 41, was called in off-duty to drive the couple back to Dodi’s apartment on rue Arsène-Houssaye in a black Mercedes-Benz S280 registered to the hotel. Personal bodyguard Trevor Rees-Jones rode in the front passenger seat — the only occupant wearing a seatbelt.
00:23 on 31 August 1997
The Mercedes left the rear entrance of the Ritz on rue Cambon at 00:19. Pursued by multiple paparazzi motorbikes, Paul accelerated west along the Cours la Reine and entered the Pont de l’Alma underpass at approximately 105 km/h — more than double the 50 km/h limit.
At 00:23 the Mercedes struck the 13th supporting pillar of the tunnel after sideswiping a white Fiat Uno (later sought but never identified). Speed at impact was estimated at approximately 100 km/h.
Henri Paul died at the scene. Dodi Fayed died at the scene. Bodyguard Trevor Rees-Jones survived with severe facial injuries. Diana was conscious but unresponsive when extracted from the wreckage at approximately 01:00. She was transported to La Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital approximately 6 km away. She suffered cardiac arrest in the ambulance and again on the operating table. She was pronounced dead at 04:00 on 31 August 1997. She was 36.
What the autopsies found
The French and British autopsy reports established that Henri Paul had been driving with a blood alcohol concentration of approximately 1.74 g/L — more than three times the French legal limit — combined with the anti-depressant fluoxetine and the calming agent tiapride. Paul had been described by Ritz colleagues earlier that evening as appearing sober; the medical reconstruction concluded he was a habitual drinker with tolerance.
The pursuing paparazzi did not strike the Mercedes but were photographing into the wreckage seconds after the crash. Seven photographers and one motorcycle dispatch rider were initially charged with manslaughter; all charges were dismissed in 2002.
Operation Paget and the inquest
The Operation Paget Metropolitan Police investigation reported on 14 December 2006 rejecting Mohamed Al-Fayed’s allegations that the crash had been an MI6 assassination ordered by the British royal family to prevent a marriage and pregnancy. No forensic, intelligence, or witness evidence supported the conspiracy theory.
The British inquest jury returned a verdict on 7 April 2008 of unlawful killing through the gross negligence of Henri Paul and the pursuing paparazzi. The princess had not been pregnant. The couple were not engaged.
Diana’s funeral at Westminster Abbey on 6 September 1997 was watched by a global television audience estimated at 2.5 billion.