Nearly three decades after the tragic Paris car crash that claimed the life of Diana, Princess of Wales, chilling details continue to emerge about her final moments.
On the night of August 31, 1997, Diana was travelling through the Place de l’Alma underpass in Paris in the back of a black Mercedes-Benz S280 alongside Egyptian film producer Dodi Fayed. The vehicle, driven by Henri Paul, the deputy head of security at the Ritz Hotel, crashed at high speed while attempting to flee a swarm of paparazzi.
Henri Paul—later found to be intoxicated by alcohol and prescription drugs—died instantly, as did Dodi. Trevor Rees-Jones, Dodi’s bodyguard and the only passenger wearing a seatbelt, survived. Diana, just 36 years old, was critically injured and rushed to Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital, where she later died from internal bleeding.
The Last Words of the People’s Princess
Among the first to arrive at the scene was French emergency doctor Frederic Mailliez, who happened to be driving through the tunnel. He recalled Diana being conscious but clearly in pain, repeatedly saying how badly she was hurting.
Former firefighter Xavier Gourmelon, who led the response team, has also spoken about the moment he reached the wreckage. In an interview with The Independent and later with Good Morning Britain, Gourmelon revealed the four words Diana uttered before losing consciousness:
“My God, what’s happened?”
Gourmelon explained that he tried to calm her down, believing she would survive her injuries. After going into cardiac arrest, Diana briefly regained consciousness following CPR, but her condition deteriorated rapidly after she was transferred to the ambulance.
