Princess Diana Part Two: Her Final Hours, Death & the Conspiracies

On 31st August 1997, Diana, Princess of Wales, died following a catastrophic car crash in Paris. She was just 36 years old. Twenty-nine years later, the events of that night continue to fascinate, disturb and divide people around the world.

In Part Two of our Princess Diana special, I pick up the story during Diana's final hours in Paris with Dodi Fayed. We reconstruct the frantic pursuit by paparazzi, the journey from the Ritz Hotel, the devastating crash inside the Pont de l'Alma tunnel and the desperate attempts by doctors to save Diana's life.

We then return to Britain, where grief on an almost unimaginable scale was rapidly turning into anger. Why was the Royal Family initially so silent? Why wasn't the flag above Buckingham Palace lowered to half-mast? And how did the Queen eventually respond to a public mood threatening to become a genuine crisis for the monarchy?

And then there are the questions that have refused to disappear.

Was Henri Paul really drunk? Why did the ambulance take so long to reach hospital? What happened to the mysterious white Fiat Uno? What did Dodi's father, Mohamed Al-Fayed, believe had happened to his son and Diana? And what did the enormous official investigations into the crash ultimately uncover?

Released on the 29th anniversary of Princess Diana's death, this is the concluding part of Dead Famous' look at the extraordinary life, tragic death and enduring legacy of one of the most famous women of the twentieth century.

🎧 Listen to Part One first for Diana's story from her childhood and marriage to Prince Charles through to her relationship with Dodi Fayed and the final summer of her life.

⭐ Become an A-Lister on Patreon for early, completely ad-free episodes and Beyond the Script. This week, I go completely off-script on Diana: what do I really think happened that night in Paris? I’ll also be talking about the moments immediately after the crash that I find particularly disturbing, what I make of the Royal Family's reaction to her death, which of the conspiracy theories are complete tosh, and whether there are any questions that still leave me feeling uneasy.

Beyond the Script is available exclusively to members of the Dead Famous Patreon — join here!

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Research and writing - Elliott Caddy

Theme music arranged and composed by Holly-Jane Shears

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