A Letdown From The Get-Go
Diana was born on July 1, 1961, in Sandringham, England, into quite an aristocratic family. Her dad, John, was Viscount Althorp before becoming the 8th Earl Spencer. As she grew up, Diana went to posh schools in England and Switzerland. She was the third daughter, after her baby brother, John, died soon after he was born, a year before Diana came into the world.
The pressure to have an heir really strained her parents' marriage, and her mom went to prestige clinics in London to figure out why they were "having trouble". Diana's little brother, Charles, later said it was a "humiliating" time for their parents. "It was a dreadful time for my parents and probably the root of their divorce because I don't think they ever got over it," he claimed.
A Bad Example of Love
When Diana was 7 years old, her parents split up. During her parents' separation in 1967, Diana lived with her mom in London, but during Christmas break, her dad didn't let her go back to live with her mom. Lord Althorp, her dad, won custody of Diana with help from his former mother-in-law, Lady Fermoy.
In 1976, Lord Althorp married Raine, Countess of Dartmouth. Diana and her stepmom didn't get along at all. She thought Raine was a "bully" and had even pushed Raine down the stairs once. She later described her childhood as "very unhappy" and "very unstable, the whole thing".
Close to The Royal Family Way Before Charles
The Spencers had a long-standing connection with the British royal family. Diana's grandmothers even worked as ladies-in-waiting for Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother. Diana officially became Lady Diana in 1975 after her grandpa passed away and her dad became the 8th Earl Spencer. Within the family, she was casually called "Duch" because she acted all fancy like a duchess when she was a kid.
Diana spent her childhood at Park House on the Sandringham estate, which the family actually rented from none other than Queen Elizabeth II, who Diana called "Aunt Lilibet". The royal family used to vacation at the nearby Sandringham House, and Diana got to play with Queen's sons, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward.
Not The Best Student
In 1973, she joined her sisters at West Heath Girls' School. Academically, Diana didn't do very well and actually failed her O-levels twice, which would allow her to finish secondary school. However, her dedication to the community was acknowledged, and she received an award from the school. According to her brother Charles, she used to be quite shy until then.
She had many talents; she was a skilled pianist and excelled in swimming, diving, ballet, and tap dance. When finishing her studies, she moved to London and shared her mother's flat with two school friends. She took an advanced cooking course and held several low-paying jobs. She worked as a dance instructor for youth until getting into a skiing accident. She then worked as a preschool assistant, did some cleaning work for her sister Sarah and her friends, and worked as a hostess at parties. Diana also spent time working as a nanny for an American family, who lived in London.
Diana's Sister Dated Him First
Interestingly enough, Diana's older sister, Lady Sarah, and Prince Charles had a brief romance back in their twenties. Their fling came to an end when Sarah reportedly divulged details of their relationship to two journalists. There, she mentioned her struggles with an eating disorder, her numerous boyfriends, and stated that she wouldn't marry the Prince of Wales, "if he were the dustman or the King of England." And that was the end of that.
So, how did Charles and Diana eventually meet? Well, it was Lady Sarah who played matchmaker by introducing Charles to her younger sister at Althorp House (The Spencer Family's ancestral home and now the final resting place of Diana), where Charles was visiting for a pheasant hunt. Diana was 16 and Charles was 29. Sarah later confessed in an interview with The Guardian, "I introduced them; I'm Cupid."
The Royal Romance Begins
During the summer of 1980, Charles and Diana attended a country weekend together, and Charles began to see her as a potential bride in a serious way. Their relationship took a step forward when he invited her to join him on the royal yacht Britannia for a sailing weekend to Cowes. Then, Diana was invited to meet Charles' family, that is, the Queen of England.
She was warmly welcomed by the Queen, the Queen Mother, and the Duke of Edinburgh. Afterward, Charles continued to court Diana in London. On February 6, 1981, he proposed to her at Windsor Castle, and she happily accepted. However, they kept their engagement a secret for a period of two and a half weeks.
A Preview of Her Lonely Life
After the announcement, Diana left her job as a nursery teacher's assistant and temporarily resided at the Queen Mother's home. Later on, she moved to Buckingham Palace, where she stayed until the wedding. According to biographer Ingrid Seward, this period of her life at the palace was incredibly lonely.
Diana was the first Englishwoman in over 300 years to marry the heir to the throne. She was also the first royal bride to have held a paying job prior to her engagement. In March 1981, Diana made her initial public appearance with Prince Charles at a charity ball held at Goldsmiths' Hall, where she had the opportunity to meet Princess Grace of Monaco.
Wedding Bells
The couple tied the knot in 1981 in a fairytale-like ceremony that was broadcast all over the world. An estimated 700 million people worldwide tuned in while 600,000 spectators lined the streets to watch the Prince of Wales and Diana exchange vows at St. Paul’s Cathedral. But unlike fairytales, sadly, this couple did not live happily ever after. Even at her royal wedding, Diana couldn't but bring her sauciness...
At the altar, Diana accidentally switched the order of Charles' first two names, calling him "Philip Charles" Arthur George. Untraditionally, Diana chose not to include the vow to "obey" her husband, which sparked some discussion at the time. Her wedding dress, which had a remarkable 25-foot train, was estimated to be worth £9,000 (equivalent to £36,700 in 2021).
Charles Told Diana He Didn't Love Her—On Their Wedding Day
One of the most shocking things that Diana told me was that the night before the wedding, Charles told her that he didn't love her," Penny, Diana's friend shared in her 2020 documentary. "I think Charles didn't want to go into the wedding on a false premise. He wanted to square it with her, and it was devastating for Diana."
Thornton added, "She didn't want to go through with the wedding at that point; she thought about not attending the wedding." The documentary release marks 25 years since Diana's famous interview on BBC's Panorama, in which she admitted to both Charles and her own infidelity to each other.
She Tried To Stop Her Pregnancy
In 1982, it was revealed that Diana had fallen down a staircase during her first pregnancy. It resulted in some bruising, and fortunately, an unharmed fetus. Diana later admitted that she had intentionally thrown herself down the stairs due to feeling "so inadequate". "Charles said I was crying wolf and I said I felt so desperate and I was crying my eyes out and he said: 'I'm not going to listen. You're always doing this to me. I'm going riding now.'
"So I threw myself down the stairs.," she explained. "The queen comes out, absolutely horrified, shaking—she was so frightened. I knew I wasn't going to lose the baby; quite bruised around the stomach. She recalled how Charles had shunned her: "Charles went out riding and when he came back, you know, it was just dismissal, total dismissal. He just carried on out the door." Diana gave birth to their first son, Prince William later that year.
The Center of Attention
Now a member of Britain’s royal family, Diana faced rules and stringent expectations that were not aligned with her reserved and humble nature. At first, it seemed that having married a prince was the best thing that could have happened to her, but the union soon became agonizing for Diana, especially when she discovered she was pregnant.
For the most part, the void Diana felt within her was because she considered herself undeserving of her new position as a princess. As the media and paparazzi swarmed around her, following her every move and even publishing photographs of her and her family in what were supposed to be intimate and private moments, Diana became overwhelmed. But as the years went by, she quickly learned that the stress of constantly being under the public eye would not be the only bane of her life.
In Secret
The public saw Prince Charles’s family as a happy, picture-perfect clan. But on the other side of the royal walls, it was a tumultuous affair (quite literally) and their marriage was breaking down. It was reported that both Charles and Diana cheated on each other, and it was later revealed that she suffered from an eating disorder, as well as episodes of mental breakdowns.
While Diana battled to keep a happy demeanor for her role in the public eye, it is widely believed that Charles's rekindled and brazen love affair with his old flame Camila Parker-Bowles, was the final straw in their marriage, as it was done with no regard for Diana’s feelings.
Royal Secrets
Interestingly enough, royal biographer Ingrid Seward claims that Princess Diana was reportedly almost matched with Prince Andrew instead of Prince Charles. Princess Diana and Prince Andrew had a rather "warm relationship" that friends thought would make them a more compatible pairing. However, her interest was in Prince Charles.
Despite marrying Charles, she remained allies with Prince Andrew. In fact, royal biographer Angela Levin's 2022 book on Camilla drops the bombshell claim that Prince Andrew and Princess Diana secretly plotted to try and stop Charles from taking the throne. Levin writes that "Andrew lobbied very hard with the hope that Charles would not become king when his mother died, and that William would wear the crown." The marriage between Princess Diana and Prince Charles proved to be doomed from the start.
Separate Ways
Just a little over a decade after their wedding-of-the-century nuptials, Charles’s and Diana’s marriage crumbled irrevocably. They separated in 1992 and their divorce was finalized in 1996. Fans of the couple were devastated, and it was reported that the divorce hurt Diana more than it did Prince Charles.
Without many friends to confide in, she stepped back from public life. One tabloid reporter claimed that Diana had very few “true friends” in her life. But on the bright side, Diana's love life thrived after she and Charles split.
Scandalous Affairs
Still young and gorgeous, it was reported that a throng of suitors surrounded the princess. It was also alleged that during her marriage, she was engaged in love affairs with men such as cavalryman James Hewitt and her bodyguard Paul Manakee.
It also came to light that she had to axe her affair with childhood friend James Gilbey, a car dealer, after phone calls became public in which he called her “Squidgy.” As you can imagine, the media feasted on that specific story.
Behind Closed Doors
Then British-Pakistani heart surgeon Hasnat Khan came along and stole the princess’s heart. It appeared their relationship brought joy back into her life. The romance was kept a tight secret, as Diana searched for a way to live far from the public eye.
She disclosed to friends that she had never met anyone like Khan. The princess had been completely enamored by the surgeon when she first met him while on a visit with a friend to London’s Royal Brompton Hospital.
Head Over Heels
What’s more, according to Vanity Fair, Khan and Diana’s romance continued to progress to the point where they started talking about marriage. Though the princess tried to persuade Khan to agree to a private wedding, he reportedly expelled the idea.
Hasnat was never a fan of all the publicity that came with dating the world’s most famous woman. Instead, he proposed that they both move to Pakistan, where they’d be free of the media meddling in their affairs. Diana reportedly actually gave the idea some genuine consideration.
Nearly Wed
On top of that, the princess also reportedly shared her feelings about Hasnat with her close friends, who is now prime minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan. Khan later revealed that the conversations he had with her convinced him that she was in love with Hasnat.
But ultimately, the relationship started to fall apart. Despite the new development, Diana continued to work tirelessly for causes she supported. She attended the English National Ballet and visited Mother Theresa before gracing the 1997 cover of Vanity Fair.
Someone New
That very month, Egyptian billionaire Mohammed Al-Fayed invited Diana to holiday in St. Tropez in the south of France. Al-Fayed first met Diana and Prince Charles in July 1986, when they were introduced at a polo tournament.
Diana accepted his invitation and went on the trip with her two sons, Princes William and Harry, and they stayed in the billionaire’s villa. It came as little surprise when reports started flying around that it was there that Diana became romantically involved with Al Fayed’s son, Dodi.
New Romance
Even while on vacation in France, the People’s Princess and her brood were still not free from the prying eyes of the press. She was stalked by the paparazzi, and many still haven’t forgotten when pictures of her kissing Dodi aboard the Al Fayed family’s yacht made frontpage news.
During an unplanned press briefing later on, Diana told the reporters present that she would stun them with her next move. But unbeknownst to her or anyone else, her statement would end up being eerily predictive.
Dodi Al Fayed
Princess Diana and Dodi’s relationship strengthened in the weeks before they were tragically killed. But he is said to have admired the princess from afar and had his eyes set on her long before his father invited her on a luxury trip to France.
Dodi was the eldest son and had grown up in affluence. But he’d also made a name for himself as a movie producer and earned credits on Hook, Chariots of Fire, and The Scarlet Letter.
It’s Over
Upon returning to London, Diana called off her two-year relationship with Hasnat Khan, the man she had once referred to as “Mr. Wonderful,” as he later told the police. He quickly presumed she had opened up her heart to someone new - maybe a member of the Al Fayed family.
Khan did not hold the Egyptian businessman in high regard and let the princess know that he felt the new affair would end up hurting her. But although Diana was heartbroken that she and Khan hadn't worked out, her mind was made up about Dodi.
Head Over Heels
Dodi was clearly smitten by Diana, despite the fact that he was at that time engaged to American model Kelly Fisher. Apparently, to make the princess aware of his intentions, he reportedly showered her with expensive gifts, including exotic tropical fruits, a Cartier watch, and flowers that filled her entire room.
He would, at last, receive a positive response to his expressions of love when Diana agreed to embark on a relationship with him. Dodi had earned a harmless playboy status before getting involved with Diana and was known to have dated a string of celebs, including Brooke Shields and Julia Roberts.
Engagement Rumors
In any case, views differed about the strength of Diana and Dodi’s relationship as the summer of 1997 came to an end. Vanity Fair, for example, stated that Dodi intended to buy the princess a ring.
However, the princess had told her close friend Rosa Monckton that she was going to wear the ring on a finger on her right hand. Furthermore, Monckton felt that Diana just wanted to make Khan envious. Dodi's dad, on the contrary, strongly believed that the ring was meant to mark the pair’s engagement.
Happy Days
Whatever the reality of the situation was, however, Diana and Dodi clearly enjoyed spending time with each other. And at the end of July 1997, the couple decided to embark on a cruise together to Sardinia.
But being the hottest couple on the planet meant the paparazzi was once again hot on their heels. In August of that year, Diana was present at an anti-landmine event in Bosnia. While she was there, photographs of her and Dodi snuggling on his yacht hit newsstands.
Ready for the Next Step
The pair was back in France at the end of the month following their wonderful vacation in Sardinia. This time, they chose to visit the city of Paris, checking into the Hôtel Ritz, which is owned by Dodi’s father.
In 2019, The Daily Mirror reported that whilst Diana remained in their suite, Dodi headed out to a jeweler to secure the ring that the princess was anticipating. Then during the night of August 30, 1997, they decided to eat out at the extravagant Benoit restaurant.
Paparazzi Trouble
Although the couple had planned on an intimate dinner together, the paparazzi threatened to ruin their night out. As they hit the road on their way to Benoit, they were followed by about 30 photographers. So the pair made a u-turn back to the Ritz, deciding instead to dine at the hotel’s L’Espadon restaurant.
But as they settled down to their meal, Dodi became concerned that some of the guests around them were actually paparazzi. This left him and Diana with no other alternative but to return to their suite.
Being Trailed
As soon as they were done with dinner, Diana and Dodi decided to retire to his luxurious apartment on the Rue Arsène Houssaye for the rest of the night. But once more, they faced a glaring problem.
The paparazzi had tailed the couple from the minute they left the Ritz earlier that evening. So the couple was almost certain that photographers were lurking around, waiting for them to make a move. Eventually, they came up with what can be termed a grand plot.
A Simple Plan
The plan involved Henri Paul, the deputy head of security at the hotel. Although it was his night off, Paul was called back in to drive Dodi, the princess, and her bodyguard, Trevor Rees-Jones to Dodi’s apartment.
It was arranged that two decoy cars would leave from the main entrance of the hotel in order to fool the paparazzi, while Paul and the others would exit through the back in a hired black Mercedes Benz. This wall took place in the early hours of August 31, 1997.
Just After Midnight
They all got in the car and Paul zoomed down the road. But the swarm of paparazzi somehow had become aware of the plan and began aggressively tailing the limo. Sitting in front with Paul was Rees-Jones.
Subsequently, an inquest heard that the paparazzi, who had earlier on been goaded by Paul outside the hotel, had attempted to "block" the vehicle to force Paul to slow down, but their efforts were futile. Rather, the Mercedes proceeded on its journey, traveling at about 65 mph before disaster struck.
The Accident
Gourmelon, along with nine other firemen, raced to the Pont d’ Alma underpass to help the victims of the devastating crash. The vehicle involved, a Mercedes-Benz W140, had its front totally wrecked in the accident. Looking inside it, the men could see that one of its occupants appeared to have died.
Gourmelon examined the situation. He scoured the luxury saloon to see if there was anyone else he could still try and save. Then his eyes caught a young, blonde woman inside. She looked like she was still breathing, albeit faintly.
A Sad Fate
The limo continued to blaze down the road. Just three minutes after departing the hotel, right as he was entering the tunnel under Pont d’Alma, Paul lost control of the vehicle. There were no paparazzi closeby at the time that would have been blamed for the mishap, so ultimately, the inquest would place the error on Paul.
Not only was he driving with so much alcohol in his system that he was more than three times over the legal limit, but it was also found that he was under the effects of prescription drugs.
The Tragic Crash
The vehicle hit the wall of the tunnel, swerved left, and with great force, rammed into one of the pillars that supported the roof. It was a brutal and fatal crash that claimed Paul’s life on the spot. And as the mangled remains of the black limo lay in the tunnel, the paparazzi, who had been pursuing the car on motorbikes, arrived at the scene.
But they made little effort to help the affected passengers, opting instead to photograph the wreckage. Thankfully, though, someone eventually put a call through to emergency services, and a team of firefighters hurried out from the Malar station close by.
Rescuers Arrive
The team of heroic firefighters was headed by Gourmelon - the duty officer on that tragic night. Now, 20 years after his encounter with the victims, he revealed to The Sun exactly what he and his team had discovered.
Recalling details about the accident involving the world’s most famous couple at the time, Gourmelon said, “The car was in a mess, and we just dealt with it like any road accident. We got straight to work to see who needed help and who was alive.”
Helping the Victims
As an experienced firefighter, the horror crash Gourmelon witnessed was not new to him, and he did what he knew best: analyze the situation and provide help. “For me, this was simply a banal traffic accident - one of many that emergency services have to deal with - and it was the usual causes: speed and a drunk driver,” Gourmelon went on.
He also immediately knew that nothing could be done to save Paul. In his interview with The Sun, Gourmelon said, “When I got to the car, I could see the driver was already dead, and there was nothing that could be done for him.”
Hope
Unfortunately, Dodi’s fate in the back seat of the limo wasn’t much better. While still inside, he had suffered a heart attack. Gourmelon was familiar with such traumas, and Dodi’s situation was not looking good at all. He did not survive and died shortly after impact.
Once he’d been extracted from the vehicle, the paramedics called his time of death. But for bodyguard Rees-Jones, there was hope. Although he had been severely injured, including several major facial injuries, he, fortunately, went on to make a recovery.
The Princess’s Bodyguard
Even though he was in great danger, Rees-Jones’s major concern was clearly Diana. In a state of panic, he repeatedly asked for the princess. As Gourmelon recalled, “He kept asking for the princess, saying, ‘Where is she? Where is she?’”
“But my team told him to keep calm and not speak. I told him that none of my men spoke English so it was better for him to keep still and not move. I told him not to worry we were looking after everyone,” he added. This advice may have been the thing to save Rees-Jones's life, as despite his extensive injuries (including breaking every bone in his face that required doctors to use family photos as references to rebuild his looks with 150 titanium plates) and 10 days in a coma, he would be the only survivor. Now head of security for AstraZeneca, he published The Bodyguard's Story: Diana, The Crash, And The Sole Survivor in 2000 and was then involved in lawsuits with Dodi's father, who he said put "intense" pressure on him to remember the events of that fateful night.
Diana Spencer
In the meantime, Gourmelon took care of Diana, but at the time, he had no idea who she was and identified her as the mystery “blonde woman.” The princess was lying on the floor in the back seat of the car. She was conscious and her eyes were open, so the hero firefighter felt she would be alright after all.
Diana was also reportedly able to make some small movements. But despite her state, crucial seconds were ticking by, and she needed to be moved to a hospital immediately.
To the Rescue
When Gourmelon successfully freed the blonde woman from the car, she was in fairly stable condition, so he was surprised to learn that she later passed away in the hospital. All the while he was attending to her, he had no idea who she actually was and simply concentrated on doing his best to ensure she survived in that critical moment.
He was even more shocked later on when he found out that the young woman he had saved was, in fact, Diana, Princess of Wales. But there was more to the situation. While he was helping her out of the car, she whispered something to him. And he kept those words a secret for two decades.
The Princess of Wales
Gourmelon gave Diana oxygen and she grasped his hand as he got ready to bring her out of the limo. And the entire time he had no idea he was really attending to the Princess of Wales. This he later revealed in his interview with the newspaper.
He told The Sun, “It was only when she had been put into the ambulance that one of the paramedics told me it was [Princess Diana].” In addition, the firefighter also disclosed the chilling words she spoke to him that night.
The Words
While Gourmelon cared for the princess, making sure she didn’t suffer any more harm, she uttered some words to him that may just have been the last words she ever spoke.
Apparently in shock at the mess of the wrecked car, she reportedly said to the man who had rescued her, “My God, what’s happened?” And although Gourmelon did not disclose in his interview whether he ever replied to the princess or not, he spoke about what happened to her next.
Saving a Life
Diana was certainly in good hands with Gourmelon and the rest of the first responders as they worked tirelessly to save her and Rees-Jones after their horrific ordeal. But given the circumstances, there was only so much they could do.
Gourmelon said, “I gave [Diana] some oxygen, and my team and I stayed by her side as she was taken out of the car. It was very quick because we didn’t have to cut any of the wreckage.” But sadly, as she was placed on a stretcher, she suffered a heart attack.
Cardiac Arrest
Diana, who had been sitting in the right-back passenger seat when the crash occurred, was reported to have had no visible serious injuries. But the nightmare wasn’t over yet for the princess. She went into cardiac arrest at about 1:00 am, so Gourmelon quickly gave her aid.
At first, it appeared to work. He said in his interview, “I massaged her heart, and a few seconds later she started breathing again. It was a relief, of course, because as a first responder you want to save lives - and that’s what I thought I had done.”
No Visible Major Injury
After Diana’s heart started beating again, Gourmelon strongly believed that she would be fine. And he had good reason to think so. Firstly, there wasn’t any blood on her, despite the severity of the crash.
And what’s more, it appeared she had only sustained a minor injury to her right shoulder, It was all the firefighter could notice. Then Gourmelon and his team may have thought they had effectively protected Diana from any more danger. But little did they know the worst was yet to come for her.
It Appeared She Would Live
Hopes were high when Diana was being moved into the emergency vehicle. She appeared to be stable and was on her way to meet the best hands at Pitié-Salpétrière Hospital. Gourmelon thought the princess had a good chance of survival.
He told The Sun, “To be honest, I thought she would live.” But it would be hours after the devastating crash and Diana's transportation to the hospital that he would receive news that not only shocked him but also rocked the entire world.