Conspiracy Theories about Princess Diana's Death
1:Introduction
Diana Spencer, Princess of Wales was the first wife of Charles, Prince of Wales. She was an eminent celebrity of the late 20th century well known for her fund-raising work for international charities (http://www.royal.gov.uk/HistoryoftheMonarchy/The%20House%20of%20Windsor%20from%201952/DianaPrincessofWales.aspx [henceforth HoTM]). Sadly, she was famous not only due to her good deeds, but mostly because of her divorce with Prince Charles and later on, controversial relationship with the son of Egyptian billionaire - Dodi Al Fayed. Princess Diana was constantly surrounded by paparazzi who accompanied her in almost every minute of her life and who tried to photograph her. Unfortunately this unhealthy interest of paparazzi in Diana’s private life ended tragically. Princess Diana and her partner Dodi Al Fayed died in a car accident on Sunday 31th August 1997 in Paris, France (HoTM). At around 12:20 am that day, Diana and Fayed left the Ritz hotel to return to the apartment in Rue Arsène Houssaye, they got into the car driven by Henri Paul, the Acting Head of Security at the Ritz Hotel also Trevor Rees-Jones, a member of the Fayed family 's personal protection team, was in the front passenger seat (HoTM). Their car was followed by paparazzi. The driver, who wanted to run away from them, suddenly lost control over the car and collided head-on with the 13th pillar supporting the roof of a tunnel at an estimated speed of 105 km/h (King 2001: 10).
Although the French investigation concluded that the accident was caused by a drunken driver, there are still conspiracy theories surrounding Princess Diana’s death. They assume that firstly, the accident was staged to get rid of the paparazzi, secondly The British Secret Service planned the accident and finally it was the Royal Family who assassinated Princess of Wales.
Diana Spencer was one of the most famous woman in the world, the pre-eminent female celebrity of her generation: a fashion icon, an image of
Diana Spencer, Princess of Wales was the first wife of Charles, Prince of Wales. She was an eminent celebrity of the late 20th century well known for her fund-raising work for international charities (http://www.royal.gov.uk/HistoryoftheMonarchy/The%20House%20of%20Windsor%20from%201952/DianaPrincessofWales.aspx [henceforth HoTM]). Sadly, she was famous not only due to her good deeds, but mostly because of her divorce with Prince Charles and later on, controversial relationship with the son of Egyptian billionaire - Dodi Al Fayed. Princess Diana was constantly surrounded by paparazzi who accompanied her in almost every minute of her life and who tried to photograph her. Unfortunately this unhealthy interest of paparazzi in Diana’s private life ended tragically. Princess Diana and her partner Dodi Al Fayed died in a car accident on Sunday 31th August 1997 in Paris, France (HoTM). At around 12:20 am that day, Diana and Fayed left the Ritz hotel to return to the apartment in Rue Arsène Houssaye, they got into the car driven by Henri Paul, the Acting Head of Security at the Ritz Hotel also Trevor Rees-Jones, a member of the Fayed family 's personal protection team, was in the front passenger seat (HoTM). Their car was followed by paparazzi. The driver, who wanted to run away from them, suddenly lost control over the car and collided head-on with the 13th pillar supporting the roof of a tunnel at an estimated speed of 105 km/h (King 2001: 10).
Although the French investigation concluded that the accident was caused by a drunken driver, there are still conspiracy theories surrounding Princess Diana’s death. They assume that firstly, the accident was staged to get rid of the paparazzi, secondly The British Secret Service planned the accident and finally it was the Royal Family who assassinated Princess of Wales.
Diana Spencer was one of the most famous woman in the world, the pre-eminent female celebrity of her generation: a fashion icon, an image of
References: Balakrishnan, Angela. 2008. “Chauffeur and paparazzi to blame for Diana death, jury finds”, The Guardian. (http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2008/apr/07/diana.monarchy) (date of access 7 May 2013) Botham, Noel.2004 Burnett, Thom. 2005. Conspiracy Encyclopedia: The Encyclopedia of Conspiracy Theories. New York: Chamberlain Bros. Emery, David. 2013. Who Killed Princess Diana? (http://urbanlegends.about.com/od/historical/a/princess_diana.htm) (date of access 7 May 2013) Hodapp, Christopher and Von Kannon, Alice Keeley, Brian L. 1999. “Of Conspiracy Theories”, The Journal of Philosophy: 109-126 (http://mugwump.pitzer.edu/~bkeeley/WORK/pubs/Keeley_1999b_scan.pdf) (date of access 7 May 2013) King, Jon and Beveridge, John. 2001. Princess Diana: The Hidden Evidence. New York: S.P.I Books The Official Website of British Monarchy Princess Diana news. 2013. (http://dianaremembered.wordpress.com) (date of access 7 May 2013)