Paris: Princess Diana's Last Day

princesse:  princess

voiture:  car

mort:  dead

décès:  death

One of my themed walks around Paris focused on Princess Diana's last day in Paris.  On Saturday, August 30, 1997, Princess Diana and Dodi Fayed stopped for the night in Paris on their way to London.  They had spent the earlier week on Fayed's yacht at the Mediterranean coast.  Fayed's father owns The Ritz Paris, the fanciest hotel in Paris, as well as a nearby apartment.  On Sunday, August 31st, at 12:20am, the couple left The Ritz via the back entrance with Henri Paul, the head of the hotel's security, and Trevor Rees-Jones, one of Diana's bodyguards.  They drove through the Place de le Concorde and then along a highway along the Seine with paparazzi in pursuit.

The car sped into a tunnel at the Pont de l'Alma (one of the bridges across the Seine) at 65 MPH, hit a white Fiat, and crashed into a support pillar in the tunnel.  A later inquiry found Paul was intoxicated and speeding.  Paul and Fayed died immediately.  Princess Diana died at 4am from extensive internal injuries at a hospital.  Rees-Jones suffered facial injuries but survived.  None of the passengers wore a seat belt.

Sad.  I remember distinctly hearing the surreal news that the young princess had died in 1997.

So, I was curious to see where these places are.  I visited The Ritz.  It is in the Place Vendome, the richest shopping area in the city -at least to my plebeian knowledge.  Dior, Chanel, etc. all have their flagship stores here. In 2010 the plaza has trees planted in big white planters in the shape of small cars, but these planters were gone when I was there in 2012.

I had also been to the Pont de l'Alma before but went back.  There is a replica of the flame from the Statue of Liberty there.  It is a gift to France from some Americans to thank France for the Statue of Liberty and its repairs. (It is the small glint of gold in the picture above with the Eiffel Tower in the background.) Today people paste memorial messages about Princess Diana and leave flowers there.  Below the intersection is the tunnel where the accident happened.  I'm not sure if they were planted as a memorial or not, but now there are rose bushes planted on the embankment above the tunnel.