Foreshadowing? Princess Diana’s cause of death may have been predicted ahead of time. The new Discovery+ docuseries The Diana Investigations reveals new details about the 1997 crash including how William and Harry reacted to the news and investigation.
Princess Diana, her partner, Dodi Fayed and driver Henri Paul, died from a car crash after they were chased by paparazzi in the Pont de l’Alma tunnel in Paris, France on August 31, 1997. In the documentary, Diana’s lawyer, Victor Mischon reportedly had a conversation with Diana in 1995 about efforts to “get rid” of her in 1995. Diana claimed “reliable sources” told her the information, however, she didn’t reveal who said the information, as documented in a note she gave Mischon and what is known as “Mischon Note.” The documents were unearthed in Operation Paget where the investigation regarding the crash was investigated by Metropolitan Police Commissioner John Stevens later in 2004.
Stevens later recounted to Us Weekly on August 18, 2022, how he discussed with a young Prince William and Prince Harry about the crash and the death of their mother “It was a difficult thing [to do],” he said. “So, I went along with two other people who were part of the investigation [including a] detective inspector, and [when we were] outside the door [at Kensington Palace], it was said, ‘No, they only wanna see you,’ that’s me.” He continued, “So, I went in there and we had … over an hour, probably, I can’t remember exactly how long. I outlined what the conclusions were for about 10 or 15 minutes and then the rest of the time was them asking me questions, which you’d expect because they didn’t know the circumstances of their mother’s death, where [and] when she’d died, what did she say and, and beyond that, I don’t wanna declare what the conversations were.” He revealed how Harry and William felt about the news at the time, “What they were angry about, they declared it publicly, were the paparazzi who they thought were very much behind what had taken place by chasing the car and making the car or inducing the car to go at 75 miles an hour. They weren’t too happy about that. I can tell you.”
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In an interview with People in 2016, Prince Harry talked about the legacy of his mother and how he made his late mother “proud.” “All I want to do is make my mother incredibly proud,” he said at the time. “That’s all I’ve ever wanted to do.” He continued, “When she died, there was a gaping hole, not just for us but also for a huge amount of people across the world. If I can try and fill a very small part of that, then job done. I will have to, in a good way, spend the rest of my life trying to fill that void as much as possible. And so will William.” Though Harry is motivated by his mother, he also confirmed that he makes his own choices in his life separate from what Diana would want from him. “I enjoy what I do. But I don’t do things because I feel as though my mother would want me to do them,” he said. “I know I’ve got a lot of my mother in me. I am doing a lot of things that she would probably do.”
The Diana Investigations is available to stream on Discovery Plus. Here’s how to watch it for free.
Image: Courtesy of Thorndike Press.
For more about Princess Diana, read Andrew Morton’s biography, Diana: Her True Story — In Her Words. The New York Times bestseller, which was first published in 1992, is the only authorized biography about Princess Diana. The book, which Diana collaborated on, includes raw and unfiltered quotes from the Princess of Wales about her unhappy marriage to Prince Charles, her relationship with Queen Elizabeth II, her life in the House of Windsor, and her hopes, dreams and fears for her children, Prince William and Prince Harry, before her death in 1997. The biography, which has been described as the “closest we will ever come” to a Princess Diana autobiography, was republished with new material in 2017 to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the People’s Princess’ death.
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