Was Princess Diana brutally murdered, or was it an accidental death? In the year 1997, on August 31st, the young and beautiful Princess Diana was slain in the car crash along with the driver Henri Paul and her boyfriend Dodi Fayed. Nearly three decades later, there are numerous conspiracy theories circulating everywhere, but these three stood out. Let’s see what popped up:
Did the Royal Family kill Princess Diana because they did not want her to marry a man of Islamic faith?
Was MI6 the ones who murdered the princess?
Did the driver Henri Paul crash the car on purpose?
Let’s explore the conspiracy theories revolving around Princess Diana’s death, with the Royal Family being the most likely solution.
If you ever saw Princess Diana and did not realize who she was, you would think there is no way this beautiful and elegant woman was not a princess. Diana Frances Spencer, was born on July 1, 1961, Sandringham, Norfolk, England(Britannica). She was built like a runway model, standing at 5’10” and weighing 130 pounds, with magnificent blue eyes and short blonde hair(Rio). Being in the Royal Family, Princess Diana had her share of responsibilities and a reputation to uphold but outside of it, she went and did her own things like help numerous charities and being a voice for those who could not speak up for themselves.
Why did people love Princess Diana so much? The answer is simple, they adored her kindness and also loved her sense of humor, and she loved spending time with her children above everything else. Princess Diana was also known for generosity and charitable works. The director of international law and policy, Dr Helen Durham, stated the following about Princess Diana, “The glamour and global appeal of Princess Diana added another layer to the voices of lawyers, humanitarian workers and medical staff who were raising their concerns about weapons that can not distunguish between children and combatants”(Memories of Princess Diana and the British Red Cross, 37). The princess was a patron of the British Red Cross Youth in 1983, later on she became a member of the Advisory Admission on the future of the Movement. She ended her involvement with the British Red Cross in 1996 but in January the following year, Diana went and visited Angola to help with the campaign against anti-personnel landmines. After her visit to Angola, she sent a letter to the Red Cross saying: “ If my visit has contributed in any way at all in highlighting this terrible issue, then my deepest wish will have been fulfilled”(Haynes, 8). This proves that Princess Diana had a heart of gold and was always willing to help the less fortunate.
Princess Diana’s bravery was another thing that people loved about her. She showed this bravery by speaking up about her eating disorder. In 1995, in an interview with BBC, interviewer Martin Bashir asked her about the disorder and said: “It was subsequently reported that you suffered [from] bulimia. Is that true?”.“ Yes, I did,” she replied. “I had bulima for a number of years. And that’s like a secret disease. You inflict it upon yourself because your self-esteem is at a low ebb, and you don’t think you’re worthy or valuable. You fill your stomach up four or five times a day— some do it more—and it gives you a feeling of comfort. It’s like having a pair of arms around you, but it’s temporarily, temporary. Then you’re disgusted at the bloatedness of your stomach, and then you bring it all up again”(Taylor, 7). Princess Diana was asked if she had told anyone in the Royal Family about the disorder, she responded that she did not. “You have to know that when you have bulimia you’re very ashamed of yourself and you hate yourself—and people think you’re wasting food—so you don’t discuss it with people,” Diana explained. “The thing about bulimia is your weight always stays the same, whereas with anorexia you visibly shrink. So you can pretend the whole way through. There’s no proof”(Taylor, 8). Princess Diana’s confession about her eating disorder displayed her strength and commitment.
In the death of Princess Diana, several conspiracy theories are brought up. The first and the most plausible theory being that the Royal Family murdered Princess Diana. The next theory suggests that the MI6 were involved in her death. The final theory proposes that Diana's chauffeur intentionally crashed the vehicle.
The first theory presents the idea that the Royal Family was behind the death of Princess Diana. Mohamed Al-Fayed, the father of Dodi Fayed, claimed that Diana and his son were pregnant and were planning on getting married in the near future. The Royal Family did not take a liking to his statement simply because they did not want Diana to marry a man of Islamic Faith. Mohamed also claimed that there was a list of multiple people that conspired against the princess and her lover Dodi. Prince Philip and Prince Charles were included on this list along with Diana’s sister and the CIA. There was another piece of evidence that led to the origin of this theory. [One piece of evidence that led to the conception of the conspiracy theory is that it is said that Diana herself had speculated about the plot against her and had written letters in 1995 about her fears of Charles “planning an ‘accident’ in my car” or meeting her demise in an airplane or helicopter ‘accident’. Additionally, the car crash occurred inside of a tunnel that did in fact have surveillance cameras inside of it, however there is absolutely no video footage that exists of the crash despite the existence of cameras at the site of the crash] (Lawless). This theory seems to be the most plausible one considering the fact that the Royal Family would do anything to preserve their family lineage and protect their reputation.
Now, the next theory would also make sense as to how Diana died. It has been suggested that MI6 assassinated the princess and tried to cover it up. Former MI6 agent, Richard Tomlinson claimed that there was originally a plot where they killed Slobodan Milosevic but the target was later changed to Princess Diana. “According to Tomlinson's claims - that also made it to the documentary "Playing Dirty", dedicated to the dark activities of the British intelligence service MI6 - the former Yugoslav and Serbia president was to be killed in 1993 in a way that was to look like a traffic accident”(Novoste).
There is more evidence supporting this theory as well. A bright flash of light was seen by bystanders and paparazzi, according to Sir Richard Dearlove, the former head of MI6, “When the politician’s car passed into a tunnel, a blinding flash device would have been deployed, bright enough to blind and disorient the driver. The driver of the car would lose control of the vehicle and crash into the tunnel in such a way that the death of the target would be essentially assured” (Howard and McLaren). It is safe to assume that the MI6 could possibly be the real killers behind Princess Diana’s death.
The last theory comes to the conclusion that Diana’s chauffeur intentionally crashed the vehicle with the intention of killing the princess. Henri Paul has been to blame for the death of Diana as long as we can remember, but did he have an ulterior motive and want to kill the princess? This piece of evidence might prove it; “While CCTV footage of Paul - who also died in the crash - just before he left the hotel showed him to be relatively sober, blood tests and other samples revealed he was three times over the French drink-drive limit. They also revealed traces of prescribed drugs - Prozac, for the treatment of depression, and Tiapridal, which counters alcohol dependency”(Balakrishnan). Why would the driver drink so much and take multiple drugs if he did not want something bad to happen? It seems as if he wanted the crash to happen, and he already knew that he would die so he might as well go through with killing Princess Diana.
Since looking at the mysterious death of Princess Diana, several outcomes have popped up that could explain her death:
The Royal Family killed her because of her relations to a man of another faith
British forces MI6 had slain her
Diana’s driver intentionally crashed the car to kill the princess
It has been approximately 26 years since Princess Diana was killed in a car crash and the case still remains unsolved to this day. The Royal Family still proceeds to be the prime culprit in Diana’s death.
Works Cited
Balakrishnan, Angela. “Chauffeur and Paparazzi to Blame for Diana Death, Jury Finds.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 7 Apr. 2008, www.theguardian.com/uk/2008/apr/07/diana.monarchy.
Britannica, Encyclopaedia. “Diana, Princess of Wales.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, inc., 5 Dec. 2023, www.britannica.com/biography/Diana-princess-of-Wales.
Durham, Helen. “Princess Diana - a Strong Supporter of the British Red Cross.” British Red Cross, 1 July 2021, www.redcross.org.uk/stories/our-movement/our-history/princess-diana-a-strong-supporter-of-the-british-red-cross#:~:text=Princess%20Diana%20took%20particular%20interest,by%20the%20British%20Red%20Cross.
Haynes, Suyin. “The History of Princess Diana’s Landmines Walk.” Time, Time, 30 Apr. 2021, time.com/5682006/princess-diana-landmines/.
Howard, Dylan, and Colin McLaren. “‘Diana: Case Solved’: Princess Diana ‘Was a Threat’ (Exclusive Excerpt).” Us Weekly, 19 Sept. 2019, www.usmagazine.com/shop-with-us/news/princess-diana-case-solved-death-book-true-crime-nonfiction/.
Novak, Shannon. “Conspiracy Theories: Princess Diana’s Death.” The Psychology of Extraordinary Beliefs, 22 July 2019, u.osu.edu/vanzandt/2018/04/18/conspiracy-theories-princess-dianas-death/.
Novosti, Vecernje. “‘plan Devised to Kill Milosevic Was Used on Princess Diana.’” B92.Net, 13 Sept. 2017, www.b92.net/eng/news/world.php?nav_id=102302.
Rio, Jack. “Princess Diana Height, Weight, Age, Bio, Measurements, Net Worth & Wiki - The Stars Fact.” The Stars Fact - Celebrities Age, Height, Family, Biography, 8 June 2023, thestarsfact.com/princess-diana/.
Taylor, Elise. “Princess Diana’s Real-Life Battle with Bulimia.” Vogue, Vogue, 15 Nov. 2020, www.vogue.com/article/princess-diana-real-life-battle-with-bulimia.