time no one was aware of the fact that in the days, months and years following, the cause of death of the Princess would continue to remain an unsolvable mystery, and that perhaps only future generations will be able to solve it, re-reading the history of our times.
The princess's body is buried on a tiny island in the middle of an oval pond that embellishes her childhood home at Althorp Park, about 130 kilometres north-west of London.
REUTER LONDON... So, these were the last minutes of the last day of a short life, the 31 August 1997. After a couple of days spent in Sardinia on the Emerald Coast, those private moments were widely documented and explained by the numerous paparazzi, which became more and more bulky around Diana during her last ride. That Saturday night of August, after eating dinner at Ritz, Diana's crew studied a plan of escape trying to avoid being chased by photographers. At 12:15 am four people got on the Mercedes.
In the driving seat there was Henri Paul, on his side the other bodyguard of Dodi, Trevor Rees-Jones, the only one who, as they say, fastened his seat-belt and got out of the terrible car crash alive. Dodi was sitting behind the driver and Diana was on his right side.
An official at Ritz supposedly stated that the driver was clearly excited and drunk; others, including the only survivor of the crash, said he was completely sober; later blood test confirmed the alcohol level in his blood was three times higher than the allowed limit.
CHAPTER 1
THE LAST DAYS OF DIANA'S LIFE
We have highlighted the way how many newspapers and illustrated news magazines report a specific event using different times, often contrasting with each other. With great care and precision, we have tried to check, calculate and establish the exact time line of each date and the definite time of each single event.
It's Saturday afternoon of August 30, 1997, sitting in the open-air on the deck of the yacht Jonikal, after eating a rich English breakfast under the Italian morning sun, Diana, as usual, phone calls her sons and her Public Relations agents, warning them about her next stop in Paris.
After that, around midday, the couple Dodi-Diana approaches the nearby island of Sardinia, where, waiting for them, a white Mercedes will drive them from the port to the airport of Olbia. It's 1:50 pm and the couple is about to leave the airport of Olbia on board of Dodi's father, Mohamed Al-Fayed, private jet. The powerful plane is a âGulfstream 4â and carries the colours of Harrods, their destination is Paris, airport of Le Bourget.
After the flight attendants, Princess D. is the first to enter the plane, Dodi will get on right after and then their two bodyguards Trevor Rees-Jones and Kez Wingfield, the pilots will be last. All the passengers are now on board of the airplane, after 90 minutes of flight, the jet will land at Le Bourget in Paris. There, to welcome them, they will find Henri Paul, Deputy Chief of Al-Fayed's security, and another body-guard: Philippe Dourneau. Later, Wingfield will drive an armoured Mercedes limousine with darkened windows, while Dourneau (Dodi's habitual driver) will follow on a Range Rover provided with first aid material, to transport the luggage.
THE LAST HOURS OF A PRINCESS
The countdown to the last 12 hours, before the end of the Princess of smile has already begun. While Dodi and Diana were flying towards the airport of Paris, Dodi received a phone call by Hotel Ritz body-guards concerning the presence of some members of the French Authorities, awaiting for them at the airport of Paris, which were willing to offer the couple an official escort.
According to bystanders, Dodi persuaded Diana to reject the protection offered by the national police agents, the SPHP, to rely on Al-Fayed's (his father) Security guards. (SPHP: Service de protection des hautes personnalités) (VIP PS: Important Person Protection Service â Protection, although the President of the French Republic is protected by both the Gendarmerie & the National Police).
French National Gendarmerie (Gendarmerie nationale) is a police force with military status under the control of the French Ministry of Defence during military operations, while during normal police operations it responds to the Ministry of the Interior.
The issue of âCriminal Magazineâ of Saturday, July 5, 2008 says: âDiana's protection, as we have seen, was assigned to Al-Fayed's body guards and not to Paris police VIP SPHP. SPHP offered their escort many times, but Dodi refusedâ (www.1922lasegretissima.com).
1997-2007 Anniversary Edition, (The Great Heroes - N°5) LADY DIANA on page 31 says: âThe protection of Diana is therefore assigned to Al-Fayed's body guards and not to SPHP, the service that Paris police reserves to the most important personalities, which Dodi mistrustsâ.
In the book Lady died by Francis Gillery, L' Ippocampo publishing, on page 302 it is written: "The French authorities, even if they have rigidly denied it, were aware of the arrival of Harrods owner's Gulfstream IV at Bourget on August 30, 1997, with Diana on board". The presence of a car and motorcyclists of the national police at the landing of Princess Diana's airplane is attested by the photos of the few paparazzi present there".
Regarding the presence of Diana in Paris, according to the official protocol and to the orders previously received from the Royal Family and the British government: "During a 'private vacation' the divorced Princess of Wales was not required, and in that circumstance nor even dutiful, to ask permission or to notify of her arrival the French authorities or the British Embassy based in Paris".
It should be noted what some paparazzi who were at the airport that afternoon (two of these are Fabrice Chassery and James Andanson) have referred and photographed: «At about 3:20 pm of that Saturday, August 30, 1997, on the runway of Paris airport there were also some limousines and several motorcycles of the French police (the SPHP). Furthermore there was also the Central Body of the Paris police, the British Embassy, the French authorities and other authorities for the precautionary protection in favour of the diplomatic corps».
After the accident, some members of the French authorities asserted to reporters that: «They never knew that the Princess was in Paris that Saturday». Although, even if some representatives of said authorities have denied it resolutely, the pictures taken on location by paparazzi (seized by the police and therefore never published) and the testimonies of at least three body guards at Ritz (Trevor Rees-Jones, Kez Wingfield e Philippe Dourneau) should be more than clear evidence of their presence at the Paris airport Le Bourget.
This would demonstrate that some of the diplomatic authorities allegedly lied since they were very well aware of the arrival of Ritz owner's Gulfstream 4, carrying Diana. One of the main key parts needed to know about the secret of Lady Diana's death, could be just within the lines above mentioned.
Another important element to discover a subsequent fragment of the truth, still mysterious, may lie in knowing: On behalf of who those influential members were speaking when they declared the sentence, «French authorities have asserted that they never knew that on Saturday, August 30, 1997 Princess Diana was in Paris». According to the media, among those that heard or declared the above stated phrase there were:
1) the British Ambassador in Paris: Sir Michael Jay;
2) the French Interior Minister: Jean-Pierre Chevènement;
3) the Commissioner and Chief of Paris Police: Philippe Massoni.
As we will see below, these are the first three characters that would have had to worry about the reason why the ambulance, which was carrying Diana after the accident, was delayed for too long under the Alma tunnel, instead of urgently leaving for the closest hospital near the place of the crash. It is also important
