One small decision before Princess Diana’s 1997 crash could have saved her life and changed history.
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decision → save → history
On Aug. 31, 1997, Diana, Princess of Wales, was killed alongside her companion, Dodi Fayed, and their driver, Henri Paul, when their Mercedes crashed at high speed in a Paris tunnel while paparazzi pursued them.
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paparazzi → kill → them
The tragedy is getting a fresh examination in FOX’s new special, "Celebrity Crime Scene: Princess Diana," which airs Aug. 20.
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which → get → special
Using modern recreation technology to reconstruct the events surrounding the crash, host and investigative crime journalist Jakson Buhaj joins British forensic psychologist Kerry Daynes and former U.S. Secret Service agent Rich Staropoli to revisit the evidence, scrutinize the theories and explore what really happened that night in Paris.
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what → use → Paris
Buhaj told Fox News Digital that knowing one simple thing might have saved the princess makes her death all the more haunting
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death → tell → princess
"It's very odd that no one was wearing a seat belt," he said.
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he → wear → belt
"You would think that [Dodi Fayed's bodyguard] Trevor Rees-Jones, who was sitting in the front seat directly ahead of Diana ... would caution her that she should definitely put a seat belt on, considering the car is driving way over the speed limit. ...
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car → think → limit
Yet no one thinks to do that."
Rees-Jones accompanied Diana and Fayed on their final trip, but he worked as a bodyguard for Fayed's family, not as Diana's official protection officer.
WATCH: PRINCESS DIANA'S FINAL MOMENTS: WHAT COULD HAVE SAVED HER?
"What I think is the most tragic thing about this is that had everyone been wearing their seat belt, unfortunately, Henri Paul and Dodi Fayed probably would’ve passed away, but Diana most likely still would’ve been with us," Buhaj said.
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Buhaj → think → us
"And I think that’s something that really stuck with me after we wrapped filming, that there is a whole other timeline out there where a seat belt could have saved Princess Diana."
For years, one detail about the crash was widely repeated: Rees-Jones survived because he was the only person in the Mercedes wearing a seat belt.
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he → think → belt
Investigators later determined that wasn't true.
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that → determine → ?
The official British inquiry concluded that no one in the car was wearing a seat belt when it crashed.
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it → conclude → belt
After the official British police inquiry concluded in 2006, Lord Stevens said Diana, Fayed and Paul might not have died had they been wearing seat belts, The Guardian reported.
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Guardian → conclude → belts
Paul was scheduled to be off duty that night.
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Paul → schedule → duty
His blood alcohol level was later found to be more than three times the French legal limit, People magazine reported.
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magazine → find → ?
Surveillance video did not show obvious signs that Paul was intoxicated, and several witnesses said they noticed nothing unusual about his behavior.
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they → show → behavior
People magazine reported that Paul taunted photographers by announcing, "You won’t catch up with us."
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You → report → us
As he picked up speed, he couldn't shake the paparazzi chasing the Mercedes, including several photographers traveling on motorcycles and scooters.
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he → pick → motorcycles
"There are many, many things that could have prevented the death of Princess Diana," Buhaj said.
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Buhaj → be → Diana
"I think getting into that car with Henri Paul was a death sentence for Princess Diana. ...
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getting → think → Diana
And had she not done that, she could still be with us today."
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she → do → us
The Mercedes slammed into the 13th concrete pillar of Paris’ Pont de l’Alma underpass shortly after midnight.
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Mercedes → slam → midnight
The car then rebounded and struck the tunnel wall before coming to a stop.
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car → rebound → stop
In the front seat, airbags were sprayed with blood, and Paul’s body pressed on the horn, People reported.
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People → spray → horn
Paul and Fayed died at the scene, while Rees-Jones suffered critical injuries.
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Jones → die → injuries
Diana was found on the floor of the mangled car, severely injured.
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Diana → find → car
Photographers descended on the crash scene and began taking pictures.
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Photographers → descend → pictures
Buhaj also found it alarming that about an hour and 40 minutes passed between the crash and Diana's arrival at the hospital.
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minutes → find → hospital
It's noted that French emergency teams followed an approach to trauma care that emphasized treating and stabilizing critically injured patients at the scene before transporting them.
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that → note → them
Diana also had to be freed from the wreckage and went into cardiac arrest before she was placed in the ambulance.
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she → have → ambulance
Even after the ambulance left, the driver was instructed to proceed slowly because Diana's condition was so unstable.
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condition → leave → ?
At one point, the ambulance stopped when her blood pressure dropped.
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pressure → stop → point
Diana, whose heart had been restarted once, was treated by a team of about 20 doctors and nurses, People reported.
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People → restart → doctors
She again went into cardiac arrest.
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She → go → arrest
In surgery, physicians discovered a ruptured pulmonary vein and massive internal bleeding.
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physicians → discover → vein
Doctors tried to repair the torn vein and stop the bleeding, but they were unable to restart Diana’s heart.
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they → try → heart
She was pronounced dead at 4 a.m.
In the years before her death, Diana had expressed concerns about her safety.
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Diana → pronounce → safety
She believed she was being watched and that her phones could be tapped.
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phones → believe → ?
She also wrote privately about fears that she could be harmed in a car crash.
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she → write → crash
"People in her close circle described her as quite paranoid," Buhaj said.
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Buhaj → describe → her
So not only are billions of people across the world glued to the screen whenever she appears on it, but she’s also constantly having to look over her shoulder out of fear."
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she → glue → fear
…and 15 more, not listed.
The Aporia
