Diana Spencer-Princess of Wales

  When she and Charles had been married for only a few months, rumors began to spread that the princess was pregnant. Indeed, she took her duty of producing an heir to the throne rather seriously, and the rumors were proved true when Diana’s pregnancy was officially announced. Much has been discussed about Diana’s decision to have a baby so early in her life and marriage. She certainly yearned for ways to occupy her time and wanted to do her part in carrying on the British traditions. After all, a son would be heir to the throne. Diana also believed that the most effective way to develop a positive relationship with Charles and the royal family was to bring a child into their world [5, p.56].

   Finally, the big day arrived. At 9:03 p.m. on June 22, 1982, Prince William Arthur Charles Louis was born. The baby was nearly perfect. People in Great Britain and across the world rejoiced. Forty-one-gun salutes were scheduled at Hyde Park and the Tower of London to celebrate. The mood was celebratory— poems were written and souvenirs were created to commemorate the birth of this beloved child [7].

  The birth of William had a dramatic impact on the succession to the throne. Charles’s two brothers, princes Andrew and Edward, as well as his sister, Princess Anne, all moved down one place on the list. After Charles had his turn at being the king of England, Prince William would be next in line—no matter his age [9, p.54].

  Unlike other royal parents, Diana wanted to keep the baby near her at night instead of sending him to the staff’s wing of the palace. Diana felt that she knew what was best for her child. She loved being a mother and spending time with her baby. Charles, too, was very taken with his son—he changed diapers, bathed the children and played with them. He desired to be a more in-touch father than his own father had been to him. The fairytale royal couple now became the perfect royal parents—at least that is what people thought.

  A couple of months later more news arrived: Diana was pregnant again. On September 16, 1984, at 4:20 p.m., the princess gave birth for a second time. Prince Henry Charles Albert David—better known as Harry—became the third in line to the British throne behind his father and older brother. Diana left the hospital with Charles at her side just 22 hours after the baby was born. She was greeted by about 1,000 people who had gathered outside the hospital.

  Diana loved her sons so much. Her life revolved around the boys. She organized parties for them and stuck notes on doors expressing her love for them. She also proved to be a conscientious mother, making them pick up their toys and regulating their intake of sweets.

  Although Princess Diana was a mother now, she socialized with international politicians and celebrities and had a number of trips to different countries. Despite her love of social events, she also stayed very active in charity events around Great Britain. No other members of the royal family, it seemed, made themselves more available to the charity circuit. She became the president of Barnardo’s, a charity that looked after troubled children. She was also the guest of honor at an elaborate event that became known as the Tiffany Ball, which raised money for the AIDS Crisis Trust [1, p.280-281]. She began to attend as many charity events as possible. In addition to helping raise money at these events, Diana also spent hours in hospitals visiting the sick and dying, as well as in homeless charities visiting those in need. 

  2.4 Dark sides of marriage 

  Princess Diana spent much time with people but deep down Diana was lonely. She was loved more by the people rather than by husband. Charles distanced himself from Diana. There was one woman who stimulated Charles' intellect. It was Camilla Parker Bowles. He took up this relationship during his marriage to Diana and that was the undoing of the couple and the whole family. Camilla was no beauty, no fashion model, was however a woman with wit and intellect. For Charles Camilla was a true friend. She listened to him when he had problems and he liked to follow her advice. The pair met secretly at Highgrove, Charles' country residence. This place proved to be completely practical, as Camilla lived nearby. Besides, Diana stayed here very seldom; she preferred to stay in London at the weekend. In any case, Charles' servants and friends had known exactly this for a long time: The heir to the throne betrays his wife, and, indeed, in the very bed which Diana had once chosen!

  The prince fooled himself completely if he thought that Diana had not realized about the infidelity. At first it was only ideas, which however began to gain ever more shape. When there was a conflict between the married couple, Prince Charles drove to Highgrove. Often he first came back in the morning hours and then laid down for the rest of the night on a small bed in his dressing room. Where had he been? Diana surprised her husband at Highgrove, the sofa cushions were rumpled in front of the fireplace, and the servants stared at the floor with embarrassment. Who was still here then? That was a dreadful situation for Diana. She made scenes in front of him, raged, cried and screamed. It made no impression on him. In 1985, at the time when Charles re-established his relationship with Camilla, Diana began to mutilate herself. With sleeping tablets, falling down the stairs and self-mutilation she wanted to send out signals, to make clear, that she needed help. But Charles and the royal family were not in the position to pick up on these signals. Diana, the celebrated goddess, the beauty from the fairytale book, was psychologically ill for more than half a decade!

  It was 1987 when the state of Diana's nerves and soul were at their lowest point. Diana’s heart was empty and lonely. Yet there was this yearning, her will and desire. A young woman at 26 cannot live without love, without tenderness. Everything began completely harmlessly. Diana sought a riding instructor for her sons William and Harry. James Hewitt, member of the bodyguard, offered his services. He was a charming young man and was sympathetic to Diana from the beginning. Diana was excited by his understanding nature and decided to take a few riding lessons. James Hewitt burst from pride: he had never had such prominent pupils before. And he quickly noticed that Diana was, very sadly, psychologically unstable. Stealing her heart was an easy game for him. The pair came closer. He offered himself as a trustworthy friend, always listened to her concerns and flattered her. Finally, Diana thought, a man on my side. His game was made easier by the fact that her two sons also liked the nice Uncle James very much. He soon realized that Diana was not the self-confident goddess that he knew from the press reports. She was shy, uncertain, injured and depressed. That was James Hewitt's great chance! Small reassurances, the first common secrets, a breathless farewell kiss - the fantasy began to work. James Hewitt managed to make Diana devoted to him. He formed the total opposite to Charles, always had time, listened to every word and took all her dreams seriously. He gave Diana the feeling of being desirable, interesting and exciting. Yes, James saw her as a woman, not as a princess. Diana never wanted to ever break her promise of loyalty made at the marriage altar. She was then so certain that she would love Charles for ever and ever. But the ice cold marriage opened doors for James Hewitt: Diana became unfaithful and had a sexual relationship with the riding instructor. Hewitt later betrayed the princess when he wrote his own book and talked of the affair. The princess, it seemed, was unable to trust anyone who came into her life [11].

  By the end of 1992, the word was out: The Prince and Princess of Wales would officially separate. On December 10, just over 11 years since the two had married; they agreed to end their unhappy marriage. Prince William was 10 and Prince Harry was 8. “This decision has been reached amicably and they will both continue to participate fully in the upbringing of their children,” said Prime Minister John Major in a nationally televised news conference, in which he spoke to Britain’s House of Commons [9].

  In the meantime, people in Britain wondered about Diana’s role if Charles became king. The title of “Queen Consort” was suggested when Major addressed Parliament on that fateful December day. As if to reassure the British that Charles could still be king, the archbishops of Canterbury and York released a joint statement, which said that the separation would not affect Charles’s future position as head of the Church of England, a position that would be granted to him upon becoming king. Even though the church frowned on divorce, it did not have a rule against it [4].

  The week before their separation was announced, Diana went to Highgrove. With the help of her sister Lady Jane Fellowes, the Princess told her sons about the separation with their father. Later, she loaded up her belongings so that she could move to her apartment. Despite her royal separation, Diana would still be allowed to live in a palace because she was the mother of the future king of England. So the Princess based her household and her office at Kensington Palace, while The Prince was based at St James's Palace and continued to live at Highgrove.

  After the separation Diana tried to distract from the problems. When she was not traveling the world and visiting her friends, she was often home alone at Kensington Palace, watching television or talking on the phone. Her children spent less time with her because William was second in line for the throne and it was assumed that he needed the guidance of the royal family more than he needed guidance from his own mother. As the months flew by, Diana and Charles apparently called a brief truce in their ongoing battles that were reported in London’s newspapers. They took both their sons to Eton on William’s first day there, arriving together in a Jaguar. At various other times in the weeks that followed, the two made public appearances together. Speculation began that, perhaps, a divorce would not occur. Charles, however, continued to be seen in public with Parker Bowles [9, p.83].

  In November 1995 The Princess gave a television interview during which she spoke of her unhappiness in her personal life and the pressures of her public role. Although she said she did not want a divorce, Diana seemed destined to become the ex-wife of England’s future king. Her attitudes and actions led to the couple’s eventual permanent split. A month after that television interview aired, Queen Elizabeth encouraged Diana and Charles to divorce. After four years of their official separation, the divorce was made official by London’s High Court on August 29, 1996.

  Diana would remain a wealthy woman, according to the divorce settlement. She reportedly received a payment of $22 million and funds to run her office at Kensington Palace. She also retained her apartment at Kensington Palace. The courts guaranteed a shared custody arrangement for their two sons. Finally, in a move that infuriated Diana and many of the British people, the Queen stripped Diana of the title Her Royal Highness. She would retain only the title Princess of Wales [9, p.86-87].

  Following her divorce she spent most of her time in London where she visited the cinema and gym, and had a circle of friends which included spiritualists, well known personalities like Elton John and Gianni Versace, and bohemian members of the aristocracy. She continued her charity work and was fiercely protective of her two sons. At the same time, Diana began to see a new friend few people knew about: Hasnat Ahmad Khan, a Pakistani heart surgeon whom she had met at a London hospital when visiting a friend who had undergone surgery. They spent quiet moments at Kensington Palace or in out-of-the-way restaurants, getting to know each other. Diana, once again, began to think that she had found the man of her dreams. She wanted to marry a smart man who understood her position in life—as a princess and a traveling philanthropist. But the surgeon broke off the relationship. Diana was broken-hearted again.

  So, in this period Diana’s life was very complicated: she was upset about her divorce; the relationship with the Royal Family left much to be desired and she felt completely broken. At the beginning of the marriage her life was a fairy-tale but in 16 years it turned into a nightmare.

  CHAPTER 3 The tragic death 

  This chapter describes the Princess’s life a year before the accident. Here will be said about Diana’s emotional state after her separation with Charles, about her affairs with other men and about her public role. 

  3.1 The fatal accident 

   In early July, Diana accepted an invitation from the wealthy owner of Harrods department store, Mohamed Al Fayed, to visit his estate in the south of France. There she met Dodi Al Fayed. He was 41 years old and, like her, divorced. On the whole Diana and Dodi had many similarities: both had not been diligent at school,  both had been left by their mothers as children and grew up with their fathers. Their financial situations were also similar, both had access to fortunes worth more than a million. Accordingly even their luxurious lifestyles were certainly similar. This aspect was not completely unimportant for the Princess of Wales. Only in this way could she be certain that the man who she loved would not be after her money, or would later write some kind of revelation book.

  Diana and Dodi met at various parties. They both found each other pleasant and came ever closer to each other at the end of 1996. Enough common topics for conversation were in any case at hand. Yet it would be still a few months until true love emerged from inner friendship. In July 1997 Mohamed invited his son, Diana and her children to a Mediterranean cruise on his sea-worthy luxury yacht. Dodi was an exceedingly charming and attentive man. He fulfilled the Princess's every wish, showered her with compliments and little gifts. Finally Diana felt like a woman again, loved and respected. Dodi conquered her heart very gently and without haste. It was clear to her that she wanted this man. She felt safe, secure and desirable. Two weeks later Dodi and Diana once more undertook a 6-day trip [11].

  After restful days the pair decided to go home but they didn't fly directly to London. They still wanted to enjoy one or two days in Paris. The pair checked into a suite at the Ritz, where Diana took the time to call one of the reporters who always wrote about her. Diana ordered scrambled eggs with wild mushrooms and asparagus for dinner that night, when she and Dodi Al Fayed ate in the hotel’s restaurant. Their dinner was interrupted, however, when they were told that their location had been discovered—a growing crowd of photographers was waiting outside the hotel entrance. The two returned to their suite and decided they would leave the hotel and head for Dodi Al Fayed’s Paris apartment [9, p.99].

  The couple climbed into the backseat of a Mercedes that was driven by a member of the hotel’s security staff named Henri Paul. Because Dodi’s father owned the Ritz, the driver was familiar with the Al Fayed family. It was not revealed until days later that Paul had been drinking and that his blood-alcohol level was elevated above the point of sobriety. In the front seat with him was Dodi’s bodyguard, Trevor Rees-Jones.

  Paul drove the car fast. He entered a tunnel along an expressway near the Seine River, at which point a gut-wrenching crash occurred. The Mercedes they were riding in hit a concrete support column, rolled over, and hit another wall. The bodyguard lay in a critical position on the passenger side. He was unconscious, but alive. Dodi and Henri Paul lost their life at the scene of the accident. Diana, who was sitting next to her lover, was still breathing. The Princess was taken to the La Pitie Salpetriere Hospital. The surgeons opened her ribcage and discovered a torn vein. Massive inner bleeding! They managed to close the vein. But suddenly her heart stopped. The medics tried to bring the Princess back to life using heart massage. The fight lasted until shortly before four o'clock in the morning. Then the doctors had to agree that they had lost the fight. 

  Diana was dead!

  The Princess of Wales died on 31st August 1997 at 3.57 am.

  News spread quickly around the world. Details of the crash were issued from Paris throughout the night. Charles learned of Diana’s death soon after it happened. He was at Balmoral with their sons, enjoying their traditional late-summer retreat. He fretted until morning, at which time he would have to tell his sons that their mother was dead.

  As her death was announced, people around the world began to mourn. Television anchors traveled to London and set up their camera crews for a week of painful coverage. People throughout the world turned on their televisions that morning to hear all of the details about the fateful crash.

  The Princess's body was repatriated to the United Kingdom in the evening of Sunday 31 August by a BAe 146 aircraft of the Royal Squadron. The Prince of Wales and the Princess's elder sisters, Lady Sarah McCorquodale and Lady Jane Fellowes, accompanied The Princess's coffin on its return journey.

  Upon arrival at RAF Northolt, the coffin, draped with a Royal Standard, was removed from the aircraft and transferred to a waiting hearse by a bearer party from The Queen's Colour Squadron of the RAF. The Prime Minister was among those in the reception party.

  From RAF Northolt the coffin was taken to a private mortuary in London, so that the necessary legal formalities could be completed. Shortly after midnight, it was moved to the Chapel Royal in St James's Palace, where it lay privately until the funeral on Saturday 6 September, at Westminster Abbey. Millions of people lined the streets of London that day to observe the funeral procession; at least two billion more throughout the world watched on TV.  Once the coffin was placed near the altar, Charles and his father placed bouquets of white lilies near it. The coffin was adorned with three wreaths of white flowers, which represented the Spencer family, William, and Harry. A white card from her sons had the word “Mummy” printed on it. Diana’s sisters read poems, and her brother addressed the crowd. Royalty, celebrities, and international politicians such as Hillary Clinton and Henry Kissinger were seated in the church. Famed entertainer Elton John performed a heartbreaking rendition of his song “Candle in the Wind.” After the ceremony, a small procession left Westminster Abbey and drove for two hours to a private ceremony at Althorp. The Princess was buried in sanctified ground on an island in the centre of an ornamental lake.

  3.2 Conspiracy theories 

   As months and years passed, both ridiculous and valid conspiracy theories found their way into the mass media. So here are some of them:

• The paparazzi did it.

  Among the first details to surface about the accident was the fact that the driver of the car had been speeding to evade paparazzi photographers. Unsurprisingly, the blame was immediately laid on them. Critics called them "legalized stalkers," "cowardly murderers," and "assassins." And certainly they bore some of the responsibility for participating in a high-speed chase under very dangerous conditions. However, autopsy results soon revealed that Henri Paul, the chauffeur, was drunk. He had exactly 1, 75 milliliters of alcohol in his blood. At the end of a two-year police investigation, the paparazzi were largely exonerated and the preponderance of the blame shifted to Paul.

• The royal family did it.

  Not everyone was satisfied with the official version of events, however. Within hours of the announcement of her death, rumors of a plot to assassinate Princess Diana had begun to swirl. The main culprits: the royal family, assisted by the British intelligence service. Why would the House of Windsor want Princess Diana dead? Because, the whisper campaign went, she was poised to embarrass the crown by marrying Dodi Al Fayed, a Muslim, who would become stepfather to Princes William and Harry, the heirs to the British throne. It was even speculated that Diana was pregnant with Al Fayed's child.

  These paranoid accusations gained more traction than they deserved thanks to their tabloid appeal, not to mention the tireless championing of Mohamed Al Fayed, Dodi's father, who refused to believe the fatal car crash was a mere accident. It was suggested that an agent of MI6, the British intelligence service, was present at the scene, posing as a member of the press. It was suggested that a mysterious vehicle, a white Fiat Uno, was used by the conspirators to block the car's path, forcing it to collide with the pillar. It was suggested that recordings from closed-circuit cameras in the Alma Tunnel which ought to have documented the precise sequence of events were either tampered with or summarily disposed of. And so on.

  None of these assertions have held up under scrutiny. Diana was not, in fact, pregnant, according to tests run on samples of her blood collected at the scene. Nor were Diana and Dodi planning to get married, according to sources close to the principals. There were no unaccounted-for vehicles, least of all a phantom Fiat, involved in the crash. Of the 10 traffic cameras located in and around the tunnel, none were properly positioned to record the accident itself. And no convincing evidence of government involvement has ever been found.

• Al Fayed's enemies did it.

  Another bogeyman conjured up by those who refuse to accept the official explanation is a group of shadowy figures lumped under the heading "Enemies of Al Fayed." In this version of events, the real target of the assassination plot was Dodi Al Fayed. The motive was revenge against his father. Diana's death was incidental or a diversion at most.

  It stands to reason that a man as wealthy and powerful as Mohamed Al Fayed acquired some equally powerful enemies over the years, but who are they? What are their names? Nothing tangible has ever been put forward. One would think that if there were even a shred of truth to this scenario, Al Fayed himself would have demanded an appropriate investigation and punishment of the actual wrongdoers.

• Diana herself did it.

  Without a doubt the oddest conspiracy theory advanced to explain the events of August 31, 1997 revolves around the claim that Princess Diana faked her own death. With the help of Dodi and his family's massive wealth, Diana carefully planned the "accident" as a cover so the couple could slip away, change their identities, and begin a new life far away from public scrutiny. This would mean, of course, that the bodies buried in Princess Diana's and Dodi Al Fayed's graves actually belong to somebody else.