Ten Years On: Why Diana Mattered

1997

Aug. 31
Just after midnight, as it is chased by paparazzi on motorcyles, a black Mercedes carrying Princess Diana speeds into a Paris tunnel and crashes into a pillar. Dodi Al Fayed, Diana's current boyfriend, is killed on impact, as is the driver, Henri Paul. Diana is cared for at the scene and eventually taken to a local hospital, where she dies at 4 a.m. due to internal bleeding caused by major chest and lung injuries. Paris police detain several photographers for questioning.

Sept. 1
Driver Henri Paul's blood-alcohol-content at the time of the crash was more than three times the legal limit in France, according to the Paris prosecutor's office. The car, it is eventually discovered, was traveling between 61 to 63 mph; the speed limit in the tunnel is 30 mph.

Sept. 2
Paris police open an investigation into the crash as they name the photographers as manslaughter suspects.

Sept. 19
Police investigators interview Trevor Rees-Jones, Dodi Al Fayed's bodyguard and the crash's lone survivor. After the crash, Rees-Jones had lost consciousness and was unable to speak for days. Apparently suffering from partial amnesia, he was unable to shed much light on the circumstances surrounding the crash.