Died: 31 August 1997

Born: 1 July 1961

Cause of death: Car crash

Death Summary: Diana died after a high speed car accident;Her death sparked an amazing public response of grief, and the accident itself is an ongoing controversy.

Who was : The former wife of Prince Charles and mother of Princes William and Harry.She became internationally known and widely loved, especially for her beauty, fashion sense and charity work.

On 31 August 1997, Diana died after a high speed car accident in the Pont d'Alma road tunnel in Paris along with Dodi Al-Fayed and the Acting Security Manager of the Hotel Ritz Paris, Henri Paul, who was instructed to drive the hired Mercedes-Benz through Paris secretly eluding the paparazzi.Blood analysis showed that Henri Paul was illegally intoxicated with alcohol whilst driving. He drove at high speed in order to evade the pursuing paparazzi. Tests confirmed that original postmortem blood samples were from Henri Paul, and that he had consumed amounts of alcohol three times that of the French legal limit. Conspiracy theorists had claimed that Paul's blood samples were swapped with blood from someone else — who was drunk — and contended that the driver had not been drinking on the night Diana died. Their black 1994 Mercedes-Benz S280 (registration no. 688 LTV 75) crashed into the thirteenth pillar of the tunnel. The two-lane tunnel was built without metal barriers between the pillars, so a slight change in vehicle direction could easily result in a head-on collision with a tunnel pillar. None of the four occupants wore seatbelts. Fayed's bodyguard Trevor Rees-Jones was closest to the point of impact and yet the only survivor of the crash. Henri Paul and Dodi Fayed were killed instantly, and Diana — unbelted in the back seat- slid forward during the impact and, having been violently thrown around the interior, "submarined" under the seat in front of her, suffering massive damage to her heart and subsequent internal bleeding. She was eventually, after considerable delay, transported by ambulance to the Hôpital Pitié-Salpêtrière, but on the way she went into cardiac arrest twice.Despite lengthy resuscitation attempts, including internal cardiac massage, she died at 4 a.m. local time.Her funeral on 6 September 1997 was broadcast and watched by an estimated 2.5 billion people worldwide.

The death of Diana has been the subject of widespread conspiracy theories, supported by Mohamed Fayed, whose son died in the accident. Her former father in law, Prince Philip, seems to be at the heart of most of them but her ex-husband has also been named, and was questioned by the Metropolitan Police in 2005. Some other theories have included claims that MI6 or the CIA were involved. Mossad involvement has also been suspected, and this theory has been supported on US television by the intelligence specialist barrister Michael Shrimpton. One particular claim, appearing on the internet, has stated that the princess was battered to death in the back of the ambulance, by assassins disguised as paramedics. These were all rejected by French investigators and British officials, who claimed that the driver, Henri Paul, was drunk and on drugs, although CCTV footage of Paul leaving the Ritz hotel with the Princess and Dodi Fayed does not appear to depict a man in a drunken or incapable state.Nonetheless, in 2004 the authorities ordered an independent inquiry by Lord Stevens, former Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, and he suggested that the case was "far more complex than any of us thought" and reported "new forensic evidence" and witnesses.The French authorities have also decided to reopen the case.Lord Stevens' report, Operation Paget, was published on December 14, 2006 and dismissed all allegations of conspiracy as without foundation.

The paparazzi arrived at the Alma underpass at different stages. Serge Arnal, Christian Martinez and Stéphane Darmon appear to have arrived first, quickly followed by Serge Benhamou. Records supplied by mobile telephone operators Itinéris and SFR supports Serge Arnal's claim that he attempted to call the emergency services. Film seized from the cameras of Christian Martinez and Serge Arnal showed that they were taking photographs of the car and/or the occupants almost immediately after arrival at the scene – there were no emergency services near the car visible in their photographs.

On 13 July 2006 Italian magazine Chi published photographs showing the princess receiving oxygen in the wreckage of the car crash,despite an unofficial blackout on such photographs being published.The photographs were taken minutes after the accident, and show the Princess slumped in the back seat while a paramedic attempts to fit an oxygen mask over her face. The photographs were also published in other Italian and Spanish magazines and newspapers.

The editor of Chi defended his decision by saying that he published the photographs for the "very simple reason" that they had not been seen before, and that he felt the images do not disrespect the memory of the Princess.The British media publicly refused to publish the images, with the exception of the tabloid newspaper, The Sun, which printed the picture with the face blacked out.

Fresh controversy arose over the issue of these photographs when it was disclosed that Britain's Channel 4 intended to broadcast them during a documentary to screen in June 2007.

July 1, 2007 marked a concert held by her two sons celebrating the 46th anniversary of her birth. The concert was held at Wembley Stadium and featured many well known and popular acts on the bill.

The 2007 docudrama Diana: Last Days of a Princess details the final two months of her life.

Source : www.wikipedia.org