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Princess Diana’s tragic death was one of the most devastating things to happen to the royal family (and the world). However, some believe the car accident that killed the Princess of Wales was planned by the royal family.

On the night of August 31, 1997, Princess Diana and her boyfriend, Dodi Fayed climbed into a chauffeured Mercedes S280 with their bodyguard, Trevor Rees-Jones in Paris. The vehicle’s driver, Henri Paul lost control of the car in the Pont de l’Alma road tunnel and crashed. Paul and Fayed died at the scene. Princess Diana and her bodyguard went to a nearby hospital for immediate treatment. Rees-Jones survived, but Princess Diana, sadly, succumbed to her injuries.

Princess Diana
Princess Diana | Bettmann / Contributor / Getty Images

At first, the media blamed paparazzi for causing the fatal accident, as they had swarmed the car moments before the accident. But, according to the the 1999 French judicial investigation, the driver was actually at fault. Henri Paul was intoxicated and under the influence of prescription drugs.

Some believe the royal family planned it

Although the investigation determined the cause of the accident, some believe that there’s a darker side to the fatal car accident — one that is even more tragic than the accident itself. The conspiracy theories surrounding Princess Diana’s death are extensive. However, they all conclude that someone — perhaps the royal family — wanted Princess Diana dead.

One chilling reason why someone might have wanted to murder Princess Diana comes from her boyfriend’s father, Mohamed Fayed. He believes that, at the time of the accident, Princess Diana was pregnant with his son’s baby. His claims state that the royal family had an issue with Dodi’s faith — he was an Egyptian Muslim — and, therefore, arranged the accident as a way to cover up the pregnancy and prevent the princess from marrying her alleged baby daddy. According to Independent, Fayed suggested that Queen Elizabeth and her family “could not accept that an Egyptian Muslim could eventually be the stepfather of the future King of England.”

Princess Diana
Some believe the princess was pregnant at the time of her death. | Tim Graham/Getty Images

The grieving father wasn’t the only one with theories. However, his story (and many other convincing conspiracies) convinced the Met Police to launch Operation Paget and discover what really happened the night Princess Diana died. The investigation cost millions of pounds and the police ultimately determined the claims were false.

During the post-mortem examination, the princess showed no signs of pregnancy. Additional tests of her blood also determined she wasn’t pregnant.

Princess Diana conspiracy theories

In addition to Fayed’s beliefs, there are countless other ideas for what really caused the fatal car accident. Here are some of the most popular reasons why some think the Princess’s death wasn’t an accident.

Princess Diana
Diana thought someone wanted to kill her. | Anwar Hussein/WireImage

She believed someone wanted to kill her

Before her accident, Princess Diana believed she might be killed by an establishment — which is a driving factor for some conspiracies surrounding her death. Paul Burrell, one of Princess Diana’s butlers received a letter from the princess which revealed her beliefs. “I am sitting here at my desk today in October, longing for someone to hug me and encourage me to keep strong and hold my head high. This particular phase in my life is the most dangerous. […] is planning ‘an accident’ in my car, brake failure, and serious head injury in order to make the path clear for Chares to marry,” the letter read.

When Princess Diana wrote the letter, she had allegedly had some trouble with her car.

The paparazzi made it happen

Following the accident, the paparazzi were to blame for the fatal car crash. And, although they know the cause of impact (Paul’s intoxication) some — including members of the royal family — still think it might not have happened if photographers weren’t chasing after Princess Diana’s car.

But, theorists believe they actually planned the crash. One theory suggests that photographers pushed the car to make the crash happen. Others say they helped create the perfect environment for the crash to happen.

The investigation determined that while Henri Paul might have driven above the speed limit to escape paparazzi, but the photographers were not to blame.


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