Princess Diana's brother Earl Spencer has told the BBC that the way the media is treating the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, i.e. Prince Harry and Megan, has reminded him of what happened to his sister Diana, Princess of Wales.
He said that the ongoing media coverage regarding Prince Harry and Megan is 'as dangerous as cancer'. He said that people should learn from Diana's example.
The Sussex couple recently returned to Britain from California after six years of separation from royal responsibilities. He has been continuously criticizing the media.
Diana died in a car accident in Paris on 31 August 1997. It is alleged that the media was following his car.
We had done this story 7 years ago on how the last day of his life was, which we are publishing again.
Princess Diana spent her last days on the upper deck of her partner Dodi Al Fayed's yacht. For breakfast he ate a croissant with fresh jam.
Diana took coffee with milk while Dodi took black coffee. That day at 11:30, both of them left the boat so that they could reach Paris by Dodi's private plane. Dodi's butler and his masseur also went with him because Dodi had a lot of pain in his back that day.
There was only one entry in Dodi's calendar that day. She was to pick up a ring at 6:30 pm from a jeweler near her father's Hotel Ritz in Paris. As soon as he came down, the cameramen started taking his pictures. In the evening both of them reached Ritz Hotel. Diana went to the hotel salon to get her hair done and Dodi went to meet his jeweler.
Famous journalist Christopher Anderson writes in his book 'The Day Diana Died', "First they both went to the Paris restaurant 'Che Benoy' but when they saw the crowd of photographers there, they returned to the dining room of 'Ritz'. There Diana ordered vegetable 'tempura' while Dodi ordered grilled 'turbot' fish.
"Immediately after ordering, he began to feel uncomfortable as there were many eyes staring at him. He immediately left the dining room and asked the waiter to deliver his food to his Imperial Suite."
Anderson further writes, "Dodi planned that his driver and bodyguard would give the impression that he was going to exit through the front gate where his convoy of Mercedes vehicles was waiting for him, but then Dodi would leave through the back door of the hotel in another Mercedes S 280 of the hotel."
Dodi's plan was successful but his driver Henry Paul was drunk that day. The alcohol content in his blood was three times the legal limit in France. Later, when his blood was tested, traces of drugs like Prozac and Tiapridal, which are taken as anti-depressants, were also found in it.
As soon as he left the place, the photographers got wind of this and ran after him on motorcycles. Their driver, evading them, entered the 'Pon de Alma' tunnel near the Eiffel Tower. At exactly 12:23 pm, the car trying to escape from the photographers collided with a concrete pillar of the tunnel.
Dodi's bodyguard Trevor Rees Jones was wearing his seat belt just minutes before the collision. He was the only one among the four people in that car to live to see the next morning. An eyewitness later told the BBC, "We were walking along the Seine River when we heard a loud bang. It seemed as if someone fired a gun at very close range and heard the sound of a car's tires screeching."
Another eyewitness said, "I was at the entrance of the tunnel with my girlfriend and three other tourists. The traffic had slowed down a bit because the vehicles were moving at a speed of 60 kilometers per hour. As soon as the explosion occurred, I and a German tourist ran inside so that we could help the people in the car."
The ambulance reached there at 1:20 pm. Dr. Arnold Dorosi was riding in the ambulance. He later told the BBC, "There we found the wreckage of the car, not the car. The driver and Dodi were dead. A man was lying 10-20 yards away from the car and a medical team was helping him in every possible way."
Dorosi further explains, "When we got there, the princess was alive. She was in the back seat of the car with half her body on the floor of the car and the other half on the car seat. She was almost unconscious and was trying to say something."
The BBC asked him, "Can you remember what Diana was trying to say?" Dr. Dorosi replied, "It was very difficult to understand but I could clearly see that she was in great pain. She was saying in broken words that she was in great pain."
Christopher Anderson writes, "American paramedics believe in the scoop and run technique, while the French believe in the 'stay and play' technique. Lady Diana was on the way when she suffered a heart attack and the ambulance was stopped and she was given 'AED' and 'CPR'."
"At 1:45 a.m., Britain's Ambassador to France, Michael Ray, received information about the accident. He immediately called the Queen's private secretary, Robin Janvrin, to alert him. At exactly 2:01 a.m., Diana's ambulance arrived at the hospital."
Daniel Erode, another doctor who saw her, said that Diana's heart stopped beating for the first time when she was taken out of the car and put on an ambulance. But after being given 'cardiac massage' his heart started beating again.
His condition deteriorated again in the ambulance and the doctors stopped the ambulance to operate on him. When she reached the hospital, her heart was still beating but she was soon fitted with an artificial device to help her breathe.
Later, ambulance driver Michael Macebiu told the investigating team that he was driving the ambulance slowly on the orders of doctors. He did this because Diana's blood pressure had gone down very low and he was treating her. At exactly four o'clock the doctors gave up and Princess Diana was declared dead.
At the same time the telephone rang at the home of Diana's butler Paul Burrell at the Old Barracks in London. On the other end was Diana's close friend Lucia Flecha de Lima, calling her from Washington, USA
He received a call from then President Clinton's Chief of Protocol Mel French that the princess's car had met with an accident. Lima did not have Diana's new mobile number. Bareil knew that Rajkumari never went anywhere without her mobile phone. He dialed her number. The bell rang but within a few seconds it went into 'Automated Answering Service Mode'.
After an hour and a half it was confirmed that Dodi had died. Diana's private secretary Jackie Allen booked plane tickets to Paris for Paul and Diana's chauffeur.
At that time all the London offices of British Airways were closed. Therefore these tickets were booked from the New York office of the airline. Princess Diana was declared dead at four in the morning. Burrell went home and packed his belongings in a bag and then went to Diana's apartment.
Paul Burrell writes in his book 'A Royal Duty', "I entered the Princess's apartment through the back door. The silence prevailing inside it unsettled me. I went to her desk. Three 'miniature' clocks kept on it were ticking."
"There were about a dozen pencils in a beaker. On a memo sheet was written a list of good words to use in letters. He never hid the fact that his 'spelling' of English words was very poor. Then I saw the rosary (tasbih) that Mother Teresa had given him. It was wrapped around a small statue of Jesus Christ."
Burrell further writes, "I picked it up and kept it in my pocket. On her dressing table was a half-used bottle of her favorite perfume 'Faubourg 24'. Next to her were her 'Pantene' hair spray, a glass full of cotton buds and several lipsticks. I picked up a lipstick and a powder compact and kept it in a bag."
In Paris, Paul Burrell went straight to the house of the British Ambassador. Paul Burrell writes, "I took the ambassador's wife, Sylvia Jay, aside and said, 'I am worried that Raj Kumari's clothes will be in very bad shape after the accident. She will not like people seeing her in this condition.' Sylvia J took me in front of her ward robe and said, 'Choose whatever dress suits you best.' I chose a black dress. Then I also chose her Versace size 9 black heeled shoes. Then both of us left for the hospital. As soon as we reached its entrance. Sylvia pressed my hand and said, 'Be brave.'
When Paul Burrell was taken to the room where Diana's body was kept, nurse Beatrice Humbert held his hand on one side and Diana's driver Colin held his arm on the other side.
Paul Burrell wrote, "I looked at her. The woman whom I had cared for for many years was lying quietly on a bed. Her face was covered with a white cloth from the neck down. Tears began to flow out of me. I looked around the room. The only thing in the room was a bouquet of two dozen roses, which had been sent by the former President of France, Valéry Gisca de Est."
"I wiped my tears and gathered all my strength and said to Nurse Beatrice Humbert, who was standing there, 'I have brought a black dress and shoes for the princess to wear. I also have one of her lipsticks and powder.' Then I took out from my pocket the tasbih given by Mother Teresa and asked her, 'Will you place it in the hands of the princess?' After some time, when I again went in front of the mortal remains of Princess Diana, I found her in a completely changed form. She was now dressed in a black dress and shoes. His hair had been 'blow dried' and he was holding a tasbeeh given to him by Mother Teresa."
Meanwhile, British Consul General Keith Moss approved that Diana's upper body be partially embalmed. Because of this, complete postmortem of his body became impossible. The reason was that many tests become impure due to formaldehyde, which protects the body.
On the other hand, Prince Charles flew in the Queen's BAE 146 Royal Jet with Diana's two sisters Lady Sarah and Lady Jane Philose and his Deputy Private Secretary Mark Boland.
As soon as he landed in Paris, he was taken to the hospital in a silver Jaguar car. French President Jacques Chirac welcomed him at the main entrance of the hospital. He took them to the room on the second floor of the hospital where Princess Diana's body was kept.
Christopher writes, "By the time Diana's body was laid in a gray coffin. There was a glass window in that coffin. The mixed aroma of formaldehyde and rose and lily flowers was coming from that coffin."
"As Diana's hair was blown by the air from the air conditioner, Charles became very emotional. A sigh escaped his lips. He turned to his former sisters-in-law, who were crying uncontrollably. He consoled them. Then, in excellent French, Charles thanked all the doctors who had treated Diana."
When the plane touched British soil, the then Prime Minister Tony Blair was waiting there for Diana's mortal remains.
Paul Burrell wrote, 'Eight airmen lowered Princess Diana's body from the plane in almost 'slow motion'. Then our convoy of cars left for central London. Every car driver on both sides of the road stopped their car and stood in front of their car with their heads bowed in respect of Diana. I wondered what Diana would think about this if she were alive? She would shrink in shame and say, 'Oh my God.' He is stopping his car for me. Oh no!'
