Princess Diana of Wales, a worldwide muse, was the only one to challenge the Royal Family and disobey royal protocol. The first of the royal family to get divorced, destigmatized AIDS, and a hands-on mother, all these things earned Diana the displeasure of Queen Elizabeth and the Royal Family. August 31, 1997, the world stood still when Princess Diana succumbed to her injuries in a fiery car crash along with her “companion Dodi Fayed and Driver Henri Paul” (Treisman 1). Due to the media frenzy over Princess Diana's death, some conspiracy theories developed:
1. Did the Royal Family plot and kill Diana?
2. Did the paparazzi push too hard and cause the accident?
3. Was the driver Henri Paul in on it and intentionally caused the accident?
Princess Diana led a controversial life, and her death caused just the same. Let’s look at Princess Diana's life and what or who caused her death.
https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/210630020752-01-princess-diana-life-in-pictures.jpg?q=w_1600,h_1145,x_0,y_0,c_fill
Character Analysis:
Lady Diana Spencer had a turbulent childhood, but nothing could prepare her for what would come. Lady Diana was a schoolteacher and loved to be around children. One can assume that Lady Diana’s love of children came from the lack of love she received and that she never wanted another child to feel the same way she did. Even though she had a troubled childhood, she has excellent connections with all people of every social status, “sweet, kind, nice, and shy are all the terms used to describe her” (Jennings 1). Over time Lady Diana became Princess Diana. For the fifteen years she served as Princess, she embodied and carried her role graciously and showed much resilience. Princess Diana’s memory still exemplifies the sweet, kind, and encouraging life.
In 1982 the couple welcomed their first child Prince William, and in 1984 Prince Harry was born. Princess Diana was different from the other mothers of the Royal Family. She was more hands-on and determined to be the best mother. Princess Diana broke “royal protocol” by taking her son on tours (McDowell 1). Because of this, Princess Diana “redefined royal motherhood” (How Princess Diana Redefined Royal Motherhood 1). Princess Diana wanted her children to have a normal childhood as much as possible and did everything she could to do so, “rather than rely on nannies and bodyguards, the princess took the children to school herself, participated in school events, and guaranteed they experienced the same pursuits as less privileged children” (1). This was seen as a strength of Princess Diana and made her relate to other mothers.
Princess Diana devoted herself to humanitarian work. She uses her popularity to bring awareness to several causes, including homelessness, AIDS, and landmines. During one of her tours, she visited “Bosnia and Angola, where she was pictured picking her way through a minefield in the Southern African Country” (How Princess Diana’s Humanitarian Causes Have Fared, 20 Years On 1) (Schedule A). 1987 Princess Diana shocked the world when she opened her first AIDS ward. “The Princess felt not the slightest apprehensions about her visit to the Middlesex hospital” (Jennings 1). Walking through, without gloves or hesitation, Princess Diana greeted all the patients and staff to disprove the notion that AIDS could be spread by touch. Princess Diana was also an advocate for the homeless, and her work helped the “youth between the ages 16-25 find shelter, food, and a job” (How Princess Diana’s Humanitarian Causes Have Fared, 20 Years On 1). These charities are still known worldwide today and continue to help spread awareness. Showing her bravery and resilience through her different humanitarian work reduced the stigma around AIDS and showed the world she is the people’s princess.
Princess Diana created her legacy by breaking all their protocols and standing up to the Royal Family. She overcame her childhood trauma, became the mother she longed to have, and showed the world her love and kindness through all her humanitarian work. There is no question why Princess Diana was and forever will be the people’s princess. Her heart was deeply embedded into everything she did, and the world felt it. Her work saved lives and gave people hope; behind her title, she was equal to everyone. The world adored her authenticity, love for one another, and putting people before her title and fame.
Argumentative Aspects:
One of the most speculated celebrity deaths was Princess Diana. She was a royal and in the public eye of the whole world. “The House of Windsor, as we know it today, began in 1917” (Take a Deep Dive Into Royal Family History With Our Interactive Windsor Family Tree 1). Since then, the world has been watching. There were many conspiracy theories surrounding Princess Diana’s death. However, three main theories held. The first theory and most widespread, did the Royal Family assassinate Princess Diana for disgracing their family? Second, could the paparazzi have been the cause of the accident of their crazed obsession with Princess Diana’s life? Lastly, did the driver Henri Paul intentionally cause the accident?
Within the Royal Family, there is no room for error. They have a strict way of doing business, and none of the royals stray far from their expectations. Princess Diana broke royal tradition, which the Royal Family disliked. This made “Charles the first Prince of Wales and heir apparent to be granted a divorce” (A History of Royal Divorces 1). In the summer of 1997, Princess Diana began dating an “Egyptian Muslim” billionaire Dodi Fayed (6 Conspiracy Theories about the Death of Princess Diana Debunked 1). It was believed that the Royal Family disapproved of this relationship. Due to this disapproval, “MI6 had Diana and Dodi murdered on the order of the Royal Family” (1). Rumors went around that Princess Diana “was pregnant with Dodi’s child, and the pair were also apparently about to announce their engagement” (1). Mohamed al-Fayed, Dodi’s father, claimed that the Royal Family “could not accept that an Egyptian Muslim could eventually be the stepfather of the future King of England” (1). Even though it was proved after the autopsy of Princess Diana that there were no signs of pregnancy, Dodi did purchase a ring. With this evidence, this theory is plausible.
The second conspiracy theory surrounding Princess Diana’s death is that what if the paparazzi went too far and caused the accident? There was no denying that the paparazzi were eager for any snippet into Princess Diana’s life. Princess Diana even “won a restraining order against one photographer” for crashing into her car (Archives 1). With Princess Diana being one of the most famous royals, a picture of her life came with a payday for the paparazzi. Since the deadly accident happened while paparazzi were in pursuit of Princess Diana and Dodi Fayed, it “has led to some rumors that the photographers were in on a morbid scheme, hoping the chase would end in a crash” (10 Conspiracy Theories That Still Surround Princess Diana’s Death 1). From the paparazzi’s point of view, being the first on the scene of Princess Diana’s car accident would benefit them by releasing exclusive photos before all other media outlets. These photos would be lucrative and make them more in demand for other celebrity sightings.
The third conspiracy is that Princess Diana and Dodi Fayed’s driver, Henri Paul, was also involved in a scheme with MI6 to cause the accident. Many people speculated that the Royal Family had “MI6 conducted a covert operation to have Diana’s car crash”; thus, MI6 recruited Henri Paul to follow through with the assassination (6 Conspiracy Theories about the Death of Princess Diana Debunked 1). “Blood analysis results from Paul’s post-mortem suggest he spent the early evening drinking – he was found to be three-times over the French drink-drive limit” (Who Was Princess Diana’s Driver Henri Paul 1). It was plausible that he was either calming his nerves for what he was about to attempt or making sure that his attempt would kill everyone in the vehicle, leaving no firsthand witnesses to make a statement about the crash.
To this day, Princess Diana’s death remains an unfortunate accident that caused global hysteria. On that fateful day, the world lost a leader, a mother, and a beautiful soul. With the magnitude of Princess Diana’s death and the power the Royal Family holds, it is unlikely that justice will ever be served for her demise. When looking at the facts about Princess Diana’s death, it was not an accident. When looking at the evidence, it was not just an accident; there was clearly malicious intent when you look at the state of the vehicle (Schedule B). The question remains, was the Royal Family involved? Was it greedy paparazzi trying to make a fortune? Or did Henri Paul have an underlying motive to murder the Princess?
Conclusion:
All loved Princess Diana: her little time on this Earth left an everlasting impression. With the magnitude of her death, it caused three main conspiracy stories to circulate:
1. The Royal Family killed Princess Diana.
2. The paparazzi caused the accident.
3. Henri Paul intentionally caused the crash.
This past year, August 31, 2022, marked the twenty-fifth anniversary of the fatal crash that killed Princess Diana. Still, to this day, no criminal charges have been filed for justice in Princess Diana’s name.
Work Cited
S “6 Conspiracy Theories about the Death of Princess Diana Debunked.” Sky HISTORY TV Channel, https://www.history.co.uk/articles/6-conspiracy-theories-about-the-death-of-princess-diana-debunked. Accessed 6 July 2023.
S “10 Conspiracy Theories That Still Surround Princess Diana’s Death.” Reader’s Digest, https://www.rd.com/list/princess-diana-death-conspiracy-theories/. Accessed 6 July 2023.
S “A History of Royal Divorces.” The Week UK, https://www.theweek.co.uk/105754/a-history-of-royal-divorces. Accessed 6 July 2023.
S “A Timeline of Princess Diana and Prince Charles’s Whirlwind Romance.” Harper’s BAZAAR, 9 Nov. 2022, https://www.harpersbazaar.com/celebrity/latest/a34647773/princess-diana-prince-charles-relationship-timeline/.
S “How Princess Diana’s Humanitarian Causes Have Fared, 20 Years On.” Time, 25 Aug. 2017, https://time.com/4914377/princess-diana-humanitarian-work/.
S “How Princess Diana Redefined Royal Motherhood.” ELLE, 3 Jan. 2021, https://www.elle.com/culture/movies-tv/a34748534/the-crown-princess-diana-motherhood/.
P Jennings, Tom “Diana: In Her Own Words.” Prime Video, 2017.
S McDowell, Erin. “11 Times Princess Diana Showed She Was an Amazing Mother.” Insider, https://www.insider.com/photos-of-princess-diana-as-an-amazing-mother-2020-6. Accessed 6 July 2023.
P “Take a Deep Dive Into Royal Family History With Our Interactive Windsor Family Tree.” Town & Country, 5 May 2023, https://www.townandcountrymag.com/society/a20736482/british-royal-family-tree/.
P Treisman, Rachel. “Princess Diana Showed the World How to Use Celebrity for Good.” NPR, 31 Aug. 2022. NPR, https://www.npr.org/2022/08/31/1120223493/princess-diana-death-25th-anniversary.
S “Who Was Princess Diana’s Driver Henri Paul?” The US Sun, 22 Aug. 2022, https://www.the-sun.com/news/6049729/henri-paul-princess-diana-driver-paris-car-crash/.