Princess Diana’s death, 27 years ago on August 31, 1997 shocked the world, catapulting it into a mutual mourning for the people’s princess.
In the years since, many theories about the circumstances of the car accident which claimed her and Dodi Fayed’s lives, as well as their driver, Henri Paul, have circulated, as well as multiple investigations.
French investigators determined in 1999 that paparazzi were too far behind the car when it crashed and could not be responsible for manslaughter, while a British inquest in 2008 found a verdict of “unlawful killing” by Paul and paparazzi who were closely pursuing the car.
![Diana, Princess of Wales and Dodi Fayed died in the accident. Photo / Getty Images](https://www.nzherald.co.nz/resizer/v2/E3F4D65ZLVGRDJDQLJG3PT2NBQ.jpg?auth=c92db64d5ab221f587d9b97c0e0e0257cc2a47e654509fc367f391e66268f11a&width=16&height=13&quality=70&smart=true)
While many theories still circulate and Fayed’s father, Mohamed Al-Fayed, maintained until his own death last year that the car crash was murder, Diana’s death was determined to be the result of a car accident in which she was not wearing a seatbelt.