The events of that evening changed the bodyguard's life forever, and saw him become one of the most recognised names associated with the Princess, as he struggled to come to terms with what had happened. "I saw a broken leg that I remember clearly of a man in blue jeans - I guess with a double fracture under the knee - and a boot, a cowboy boot," he said. The rest of the time he patrolled the floor. He is said to have once commented: "There's no-one in the world who has got to live with what I have got to live with." At 10.01pm the two bodyguards hustled the pair up to the grand staircase to the door of the Imperial suite. So why had Dodi chosen Henri Paul to drive? THE pathologist who examined Princess Diana's body has revealed some of the burning questions he is often asked about her death. A former dental surgeon turned film-maker, he was watching the rushes of his first feature film when he heard the sound of an accident some time after midnight on August 31 1997. I didn't know who these persons were. This field is required According to her memoir Babylon Confidential, Claudia Christian had an on-again, off-again romance with Fayed. "Before I became a film maker I was a dentist/doctor specialising in surgery, so I went into the tunnel to see if I could help," he said. Suddenly, for Trevor at least, the action stopped on August 15. That was the main thing. Scroll down for more {5} {R} In evidence read to the inquest jury, Mr Rees said he remembered getting into the Mercedes outside the Ritz Hotel, and the car being followed by paparazzi. Dodi paused. LONDON (AP) _ Dodi Fayed was buried Sunday after a swift and simple Islamic ceremony in Britain, a country that denied his father citizenship but welcomed his millions in investment. Princess Diana's cause of death was officially a severed pulmonary vein. "This guy was panicking on the right. As soon as they got the couple upstairs, Trevor and Kez came down to try and calm the photographers. To see all content on The Sun, please use the Site Map. "I told him to - in French - to stay quiet, that it was going to be okay, that people were going to take care of him and he had just to try to be quiet." We are no longer accepting comments on this article. Luc Chikhani, the surgeon called to treat Mr Rees immediately after the crash, said it was a miracle he had survived. If you had we would have been able to phone ahead and get it sorted out,'' snapped Kes. In Paris on Saturday August 30, two vehicles a Mercedes and a Range Rover waited at the airport with their drivers. The Sun website is regulated by the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO), Our journalists strive for accuracy but on occasion we make mistakes. Premium subscribers enjoy unlimited access to all articles. As they drove through thePont de l'Alma tunnel, they crashed into a pillar. Diana died on August 31, 1997, after suffering fatal injuries in a car crash in the Pont de l'Alma road tunnel in Paris. [19], The memorials were designed by 80-year-old Bill Mitchell, a close friend of Dodi's father and architect for Harrods for more than 40 years. Dodi doesn't want a bodyguard.''. Emad El-Din Mohamed Abdel Mena'em Fayed (/fad/; Egyptian Arabic: , romanized:Imd ed-Dn Muammad Abd el-Munim el-Fyid [emd ddin mmmd bdelmenem elfjed], 17 April 1955 31 August 1997), better known as Dodi Fayed (Arabic: [dudi]), was an Egyptian film producer and the son of billionaire Mohamed Al Fayed. In his statement, read to the inquest, he said: "He is an exceptionally strong person who has not suffered from depression or post-traumatic stress since the accident. They registered her death at 4 a.m. Motorcyclist killed in Pasco County crash, Pasco motorcyclist: I couldnt live with myself knowing what I had done, Palm Harbor delicatessen collects hundreds of bikes for underprivileged kids, Florida adds 6,659 coronavirus cases, 98 deaths Monday, Florida adds 7,363 coronavirus cases, 59 deaths Sunday, Two lanes reopen on southbound I-275 after fatal wrong-way crash, Bicyclist killed while pedaling in wrong direction, St. Petersburg police say, Armed robbery suspects arrested after three-county chase, two cruiser crashes, In Ivory Coast's fields, laborers are slaves. Diana, Princess of Wales, and Dodi Fayed were unlawfully killed by the reckless driving of their chauffeur, Henri Paul, and the paparazzi who chased them. ``How the f*** did this fiasco happen? '', But that wasn't Trevor's only concern. On August 31, 1997, at 12:25 a.m., a Mercedes bearing Princess Diana, Dodi Fayed, their driver and bodyguard crashed into a concrete pillar in the Alma tunnel. Again Trevor and Kez followed in the Range Rover while the Mercedes with Dodi and Diana was surrounded by scooters and motorbikes. The driver unfortunately had his head inside and it was not moving. Trevor Rees-Jones is aware that the rather gaudy chunk of gold and precious stones exists, but insists that Dodi and Diana didn't buy it. I don't remember the pain, but in my head there was a lot of confusion. She later returned to the ship in August without her sons and a photo of the pair kissing made headlines around the world. Dodi's hand went up to shield his face the princess looked anguished as she took a running stride towards the door. The driver unfortunately had his head inside and it was not moving. Fayed was born in Alexandria and was the eldest son of Egyptian billionaire Mohamed Al Fayed, the former owner of Harrods department store. Romuald Rat, a photographer who is under suspicion of failing to help Diana, said he pulled the door further open and found the princess trapped between the front and back seats and covered by a rug. 679215 Registered office: 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF. Among them was a pedestrian who was the first to open the car door and see the princess on the floor and sobbing, "My God, my God.". He was taken, along with the Princess, to La Pitie Salpetriere Hospital in Paris and in the following weeks, underwent extensive reconstructive facial surgery. The crash happened at around 23 minutes past midnight in the Pont de l'Alma tunnel in Paris while the driver was fleeing the paparazzi who were pursuing the princess. Shortly after midnight, a Mercedes-Benz left the Ritz hotel in Paris carrying the princess and her boyfriend, Dodi Al Fayed, an Egyptian film producer . "When you say you have lost your memory, you are telling a bare-faced lie, Mr Rees, are you?" Had she been strapped in she would have walked away with a black eye or maybe a broken arm, but nothing more. [12] The only survivor of the crash was bodyguard Trevor Rees-Jones, who was seriously injured but remained conscious. Dodi died almost instantly at the scene of the crash and his body was flown to Britain, for a funeral service in line with Muslim customs. After that Trevor Rees-Jones remembers nothing of the car crash, which he is still trying to come to terms with. They had stopped in Paris en route to London after spending nine days on holiday in the French and Italian Rivieras aboard his family's yacht, the Jonikal. Dodi turned on Kez and gave him ``the mother of all bollockings''. Born April 15, 1955 Died August 31, 1997 (42) Add to list Known for Chariots of Fire 7.1 Producer 1981 "The Sun", "Sun", "Sun Online" are registered trademarks or trade names of News Group Newspapers Limited. Fayed took these dreamy meanderings as gospel testimony because they suited his own theories of a deep love and betrothal between his son and the princess and a deadly plot to stop it in its tracks. It is the first time that Mr Huth's dramatic testimony has ever been heard in public and is most traumatic account of the aftermath of the tragedy heard so far by the inquest jury. Confirmation of Diana's consciousness was given by the first policeman on the scene, Sebastien Dorzee, who complained of being shoved by photographers as he tried to get her out. "I remember I heard precisely the screeching of tyres and then one shock, two seconds after, another shock and a third, stronger shock," he said. Dodi flew to Los Angeles to try and calm his American girlfriend. ``Where are they going?'' We pay for your stories! Princess Diana was conscious after the fatal crash in Paris last August and aware that Dodi Al Fayed was lying dead beside her in the car. [7], In 1986, Fayed married model Suzanne Gregard. Rees-Jones was the sole survivor of the crash that killed Diana, Dodi Fayed, and driver Henri Paul. He was told that they were already on their way but was asked to go back inside and describe the scene in order to help them asess the casualties. Fayed would later admit to talking to Dodi 15 minutes before he left the Ritz but ``concerning the decision to ask Henri Paul to drive. Welcome! His experience also includes working on the terror attacks on 9/11, in Bali in 2002 and the London 7/7 bombings in 2005. "I tried to calm them down and said we didn't need two persons to be fighting now on the place of an accident," he said. The key element of the jigsaw was in place but another few pieces of a fatal puzzle still had to be slotted home. DODI Al Fayed's life was cut tragically short when the car he was travelling in with his lover Princess Diana crashed in Paris, killing both of them. ``We'll be leaving from the back of the hotel with just one car. Diana and Fayed, who arrived in Paris after a 10-day getaway on the French Riviera, got into Paul's car a few minutes after. Soon she disappeared back to America, even though she would later claim that her marriage to Dodi was to have taken place on August 9. He admitted that he could not identify this man, however. Later Trevor got a call saying the couple would be going back to the apartment in the narrow Rue Arsene Houssaye, just off the Champs-Elysees, to dress for dinner. Now, as he arrived alongside the yacht, he spotted her on the rear deck. From . Dr. Richard Shepherd is the top forensic pathologist in the UK, and he investigated the death of Diana, Princess of Wales. I saw the two airbags were open. By this time, he said, paramedics had begun to arrive so he walked back out of the tunnel and returned the mobile phone he had borrowed. I couldn't go knocking on their apartment door saying, `hey, where are we going tonight?' The mob was waiting and Trevor raced to the car's rear door and opened it, ready to block for the couple as they pushed through the revolving doors and inside. Driver Henri Paul was also killed in the crash. ``What was Dodi bloody doing?'' The restlessness that had begun during the last few days became almost manic during the next few hours. Now, their relationship . Emergency specialist Jean-Marc Martino said that in the shattered wreck of the smoldering Mercedes limousine, Diana was shouting and saying things in English which were comprehensible but incoherent. ``Talk about bad security. 'Was she peaceful?' Instead, she was hurtling forward with the weight of one and a half elephants, and the human body is not designed to suffer those forces.. It was July 14, 1997, when Trevor Rees-Jones rode a tender out to Fayed's $20 million yacht, Jonikal, recently lavishly refurbished and now anchored in the gentle azure swell off St Tropez. ``It's Mr Dodi's idea,'' insisted Henri Paul. Fayed has persistently propounded what were found to be conspiracy theoriesat the inquest[13][14]and has repeatedly claimed that he believes his son was murdered with Diana. The inquest is expected to last up to six months and cost up to 10 million pounds ($20.9 million). Mr Rees accompanied the couple ashore during a stop-off while cruising on Mohamed Al Fayed's yacht, the Jonikal, at Monte Carlo on August 23. ``We never got into any major conversations, but the conversations we did have were like talking to any sort of person. It turned into more of a steady walk rather than window shopping." A symbol of kindness and humanity, and a mother of two, Princess Diana was only 36 years old when she died. Now Kelly Fisher was threatening to sue for breach of contract. The driver and Fayed died at the scene, but the People's Princess was not yet dead. I realised he had professional materials." The pair had first met at a 1986 polo match in Windsor while Diana was still married to Prince Charles, although nothing came from the exchange. Her companionDodi Fayedand driver and security guard Henri Paul were also killed in the crash while her bodyguardTrevor Rees-Jonessurvived with horrific injuries. She died from internal bleeding at 4:53 a.m. on August 31, 1997. An inquest held in London concluded in 2008 that the Princess had been unlawfully killed, blaming the crash on grossly negligent driving by Paul and the pursuing paparazzi. And a bodyguard. Wreckage from the Mercedes, he said, was thrown half-way up the tunnel due to the force of the crash. Dodi gave orders for the driver to put the foot down and they lost the photographers before they arrived at the Ritz. Trevor had heard the second in command of security at the Ritz say this plan had been okayed by Fayed. French medics had to restrain and sedate Princess Diana, who became so agitated after her Paris car crash that she tore out a drip, the inquest into her death was told on Monday. Dr Shepherd was a Home Office pathologist when he was called on to carry out the autopsy on Diana, one of the 23,000 or so he has performed in his career. Trevor was at the back entrance and looked out. Police, ambulance attendants and doctors implicitly contradicted claims by Mohamed Al Fayed, Dodi's father, that Diana was able to talk when she reached a hospital more than 1{ hours after her chauffeur-driven Mercedes ran into a pillar in the tunnel under the Pont Alma on Aug. 31. Among areas he is likely to give evidence on will be the crucial question of the doomed plan for Mr Paul - who was not a chauffeur - to drive the couple that night as part of a ruse to evade the paparazzi. On 31 August 1997, Princess Diana, Dodi and their driver Henri Paul were killed in a crash in the city's Pont de l'Alma tunnel after leaving the Ritz Hotel. Trevor Rees-Jones told Weekend Review this week that he still cannot fathom how Henri Paul could be three times over the legal limit and yet Rees-Jones didn't notice he had drink taken. Dodi stormed. She explained: Does it feel distant, like somebodys elses story? "This man was in the middle of the car, probably his head was in the front. As he returned to the tunnel, however, he came across a man of North African appearance fighting with one of the photographers he has seen earlier. Sign Up. Is there any truth in that?" Realising that a serious incident must have taken place, he ran to the balcony of the apartment because he feared it could involve a friend of his, Lionel Ronssin, who had just gone out to park his car. The little group sat alone on the small dancefloor sipping their drinks. However, his evidence is expected to concentrate on the events leading up to the crash. (Photo / Getty) Top UK forensic pathologist Richard Shepherd, who gave evidence in a major inquiry into Princess Diana's death, has revealed the incredibly rare injury that claimed her life after. By the time Henri Paul left the bar, the barman had served the hotel's assistant head of security his second Ricard Pastis. [4][5] He also briefly attended Sandhurst. Former bodyguard Trevor Rees said yesterday that he remembered little else of the doomed journey and denied that he was part of a murder conspiracy. In the summer of 1997, Dodi invited Diana, William and Harry to spend time on his yacht in the south of France. They took off for the hotel surrounded by screaming motorcycles, chasing and darting around the target vehicles, sometimes two to a bike so a photographer could focus the powerful zoom lens. Forty minutes later the couple were on edge when they saw the number of paparazzi. His head was in the front of the car and I could not see his legs." He was previously married to Susanne Gregard. But there's more: discover your full benefits now. Trevor believes that Dodi trusted Henri Paul, just as he trusted Dourneau who would drive the decoy car at the front. PRINCESS DIANA'S romance with Dodi Fayed, the Egyptian-born film magnate, was just beginning when the two died in a car crash in Paris on August 31, 1997. Dodi died almost instantly at the scene of the crash and his body was flown to Britain, for a funeral service in line with Muslim customs. 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