2 months ago
Twenty-nine years after the Paris crash that killed Princess Diana, Dodi Fayed and driver Henri Paul, Trevor Rees-Jones remains the only person who was inside their Mercedes and survived.
Rees-Jones left the Ritz Paris in the front passenger seat shortly after midnight on Aug. 31, 1997. The Mercedes crashed into a pillar in the Pont de l'Alma underpass. Paul and Fayed died at the scene, while Diana was taken to Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital, where she died several hours later.
Rees-Jones was not Diana's personal bodyguard. The former British Army paratrooper worked for the Fayed family and had been ******* igned to protect Dodi, which also placed Diana within his security responsibilities while the couple traveled together, as PEOPLE reported on the crash's 29th anniversary.
He survived with severe head, chest and facial injuries. For the investigations that followed, however, one consequence proved especially significant, Rees-Jones could remember leaving the Ritz, but almost nothing reliable about what happened afterward.
French investigators questioned Rees-Jones within weeks of the crash, hoping the sole surviving occupant could explain the Mercedes' final journey. His head injury had left major gaps in his memory, and those early interviews produced little that investigators considered useful.
#rees #mercedes #dodi #crash
Rees-Jones left the Ritz Paris in the front passenger seat shortly after midnight on Aug. 31, 1997. The Mercedes crashed into a pillar in the Pont de l'Alma underpass. Paul and Fayed died at the scene, while Diana was taken to Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital, where she died several hours later.
Rees-Jones was not Diana's personal bodyguard. The former British Army paratrooper worked for the Fayed family and had been ******* igned to protect Dodi, which also placed Diana within his security responsibilities while the couple traveled together, as PEOPLE reported on the crash's 29th anniversary.
He survived with severe head, chest and facial injuries. For the investigations that followed, however, one consequence proved especially significant, Rees-Jones could remember leaving the Ritz, but almost nothing reliable about what happened afterward.
French investigators questioned Rees-Jones within weeks of the crash, hoping the sole surviving occupant could explain the Mercedes' final journey. His head injury had left major gaps in his memory, and those early interviews produced little that investigators considered useful.
#rees #mercedes #dodi #crash
2 months ago
Trevor Rees-Jones, Princess Diana's bodyguard, was the sole survivor of the 1997 car crash that killed her and Dodi Fayed
He sustained severe injuries, underwent extensive reconstructive surgery and later wrote a memoir defending himself against conspiracy theories
Rees-Jones has since rebuilt his life, working in security roles and living privately with his family in England
Bodyguard Trevor Rees-Jones was the sole survivor of the deadly car accident that claimed the lives of Princess Diana, her boyfriend Dodi Fayed and their driver Henri Paul in 1997.
Following a romantic dinner at the Ritz Paris on the evening of Aug. 30, 1997, Rees-Jones accompanied Diana and Dodi as they traveled from the hotel to Dodi's apartment. But the couple — and their bodyguard — would never reach their destination, as their vehicle crashed head-on into a concrete column while attempting to evade paparazzi.
#fayed
He sustained severe injuries, underwent extensive reconstructive surgery and later wrote a memoir defending himself against conspiracy theories
Rees-Jones has since rebuilt his life, working in security roles and living privately with his family in England
Bodyguard Trevor Rees-Jones was the sole survivor of the deadly car accident that claimed the lives of Princess Diana, her boyfriend Dodi Fayed and their driver Henri Paul in 1997.
Following a romantic dinner at the Ritz Paris on the evening of Aug. 30, 1997, Rees-Jones accompanied Diana and Dodi as they traveled from the hotel to Dodi's apartment. But the couple — and their bodyguard — would never reach their destination, as their vehicle crashed head-on into a concrete column while attempting to evade paparazzi.
#fayed
2 months ago
An investigator revealed that Princess Diana would have been alive today if she had made a different choice. FOX's "Celebrity Crime Scene" used recreation technology to recreate the unfortunate Paris tunnel crash that ultimately claimed Diana's life on August 31, 1997. For those unversed, Diana was accompanied by her companion, Dodi Fayed, and their driver, Henri Paul, and she was only 36 years old at the time of her death.
Host and investigative crime journalist Jakson Buhaj, alongside British forensic psychologist Kerry Daynes and former U.S. Secret Service agent Rich Staropoli, revisited the tragic death on FOX's "Celebrity Crime Scene", special documentary.
Buhaj explained that had Diana done one thing differently, she might have possibly survived the fatal crash. He remarked: "It's very odd that no one was wearing a seat belt. You would think that [Dodi Fayed's bodyguard] Trevor Rees-Jones, who was sitting in the front seat directly ahead of Diana, would caution her that she should definitely put a seat belt on, considering the car is driving way over the speed limit. Yet no one thinks to do that."
Notably, three of the four people in the car, including Diana, passed away in the fatal car crash. Dodi Fayed's bodyguard, Rees-Jones, survived but suffered brutal injuries. There were rumors that Rees-Jones survived because he was wearing a seat belt. Investigators later revealed that wasn't the case. The official British inquiry concluded that none of the occupants in the car were wearing a seat belt when it crashed.
Buhaj continued to insist that wearing a seat belt would have saved the former Princess of Wales' life. "What I think is the most tragic thing about this is that, had everyone been wearing their seat belt, unfortunately, Henri Paul and Dodi Fayed probably would've passed away, but Diana most likely still would've been with us," he added.
#crime
Host and investigative crime journalist Jakson Buhaj, alongside British forensic psychologist Kerry Daynes and former U.S. Secret Service agent Rich Staropoli, revisited the tragic death on FOX's "Celebrity Crime Scene", special documentary.
Buhaj explained that had Diana done one thing differently, she might have possibly survived the fatal crash. He remarked: "It's very odd that no one was wearing a seat belt. You would think that [Dodi Fayed's bodyguard] Trevor Rees-Jones, who was sitting in the front seat directly ahead of Diana, would caution her that she should definitely put a seat belt on, considering the car is driving way over the speed limit. Yet no one thinks to do that."
Notably, three of the four people in the car, including Diana, passed away in the fatal car crash. Dodi Fayed's bodyguard, Rees-Jones, survived but suffered brutal injuries. There were rumors that Rees-Jones survived because he was wearing a seat belt. Investigators later revealed that wasn't the case. The official British inquiry concluded that none of the occupants in the car were wearing a seat belt when it crashed.
Buhaj continued to insist that wearing a seat belt would have saved the former Princess of Wales' life. "What I think is the most tragic thing about this is that, had everyone been wearing their seat belt, unfortunately, Henri Paul and Dodi Fayed probably would've passed away, but Diana most likely still would've been with us," he added.
#crime
