Princess Diana was an enigmatic woman and even though 27 years have passed since her death, her memory remains fresh. The night of that fateful accident in Paris has also remained a hot topic of discussion with a number of conspiracy theories discussing how and why that accident happened.
Diana, along with Dodi Fayed and driver Henri Paul, died on August 31, 1997. It is important to note here that she survived 3.5 hours after the crash and fought for her life. According to French medic Frederic Mailliez, who arrived at the scene of the accident at 12:45 a.m. after the accident had happened at 12:23 a.m. said, “I walked toward the wreckage. I opened the door, and I looked inside. Four people, two of them were apparently dead, no reaction, no breathing, and the two others, on the right side, were living but in severe condition.”
He further added, “The female passenger, the young lady, was on her knees on the floor of the Mercedes, she had her head down. She had difficulty [breathing]. She needed quick assistance.” The Princess did a little better because of his respiratory bag but her condition remained critical.
Before she was taken to the hospital at 1:40 a.m. the onboard medic, Jean-Marc Martino, had treated her as she thought that she was in a fragile condition to be transported. Upon reaching the hospital, after 2 hours of emergency surgery, Diana was declared dead.
In 2007, on the 10th anniversary of Diana’s death, Channel 4 decided to air a documentary about the crash, which contained graphic images. Diana’s sons, Prince William and Prince Harry were 25 and 22 years old respectively back then and were against this broadcast. Royal author Tina Brown, in her book The Palace Papers, mentioned that Prince William made a personal plea to Jamie Lowther-Pinkerton, his private secretary to do everything possible to stop the documentary from airing.
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However, the documentary did air, with some modifications like some images being blurred and pictures of the deceased being omitted. This documentary consisted of first hand accounts from people who were at the scene, which contributed towards its credibility.
Besides the documentary bringing into public view certain facts related to Diana’s death, her last words were also revealed almost after two decades by firefighter Xavier Gourmelon who was at the scene and also gave CPR to the Princess.
Talking to The US Sun, he mentioned that the last words of the Princess was “My God, what’s happened?” He further added, “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.”
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He also mentioned that he thought she would live as she was alive in the ambulance as well. However, she did not survive and “It was very upsetting. … The memory of that night will stay with me forever” he added. Regarding why it took him so long to talk about Diana’s last words, Gourmelon said that since he served as a fireman and French firemen are considered part of the military who are not allowed to talk to the press, he could not say anything till he retired.
Princess Diana would have turned 61 if she was alive today. Even after so many years of her death, she continues to live in the hearts of millions and is remembered fondly.
