The  tragic and untimely demise of the princess

 The tragic death of Diana, Princess of Wales occurred on Sunday, 31 August 1997 following a car accident in Paris, France. The vehicle in which the Princess was travelling was involved in a high-speed accident in the Place de l'Alma underpass in central Paris shortly before midnight on Saturday, 30 August.

Saturday August 30, 1997

Circa
19:00
Diana is chauffeured from the Ritz,
where she and Dodi Fayed are
staying following their holiday in
Sardinia, to the Champs Elysées to
do some shopping. The press pack is
in close pursuit.
21:53

Diana returns to the Ritz for dinner
with Dodi. He arrives 10 minutes
later, having been dropped off by his
personal chauffeur. The couple dine
in the hotel's Michelin two-star
restaurant, the Espadon.
Circa
23:00
The couple now face the problem of
evading the waiting paparazzi on
their 25-minute journey to the Duke
of Windsor's former apartment in the
Bois de Boulogne. Dodi's regular
driver departs from the rear of the
hotel in an attempt to lure
photographers away from the
Princess. Henri Paul, a member of
the Ritz security team, is instructed
to drive the couple to the 16th
arrondissement in a hotel vehicle, an
S-class Mercedes.



Sunday August 31, 1997

00:00

The couple leave the rear entrance
of the Ritz, driven by Henri Paul and
accompanied by bodyguard Trevor
Rees-Jones. Seven paparazzi follow
on motorbikes. The car, travelling at
high speed, passes through the Place
de la Concorde before heading west
along the Seine and approaching the
underpass beneath the Pont de
l'Alma. Paul loses control of the
vehicle. It strikes the central
reservation, hits the opposite wall
and careers into a concrete pillar
before rolling to a halt facing the
oncoming paparazzi.
00:27
The fire brigade receive an
emergency call from an American
tourist.
00:33
Police arrive. They find Dodi Fayed
and Henri Paul dead, Diana
unconscious and gravely injured, and
Rees-Jones alive but with serious
injuries. Five photographers are
arrested.
00:42
An ambulance arrives and the crew
begins to cut Diana free from the
concertinaed vehicle. Intravenous
drips and painkillers are
administered.
02:00
After more than an hour cutting the
wreckage, the rescue crew lifts
Diana clear of the car. She is taken
to the Pitié Salpetrière Hospital
and rushed into surgery. Shortly
afterwards she suffers a cardiac
arrest. Surgeons repair a ruptured
pulmonary vein but internal
bleeding continues. For two hours,
doctors perform heart massage.
04:00
Diana is pronounced dead.
04:41
The Press Association issues this
newsflash: "Diana, Princess of
Wales, has died, according to
British sources, the Press
Association learned this morning."
04:57
French interior minister Jean-Pierre
Chevenement officially announces
that the Princess is dead.

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Goodbye Princess of Hearts may your soul rest in peace