Princess Diana could have survived fatal Paris crash if she made one simple choice, investigator says
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Video Princess Diana's final moments: What could have saved her? Jakson Buhaj, investigative crime journalist and host of FOX’s "Celebrity Crime Scene: Princess Diana," takes a deep dive into Princess Diana's fatal crash and the decisions that may have changed the outcome.
One small decision before Princess Diana’s 1997 crash could have saved her life and changed history.
On Aug. 31, 1997, Diana, Princess of Wales, was killed alongside her companion, Dodi Fayed, and their driver, Henri Paul, when their Mercedes crashed at high speed in a Paris tunnel while paparazzi pursued them. The mother of two was just 36.
The tragedy is getting a fresh examination in FOX’s new special, "Celebrity Crime Scene: Princess Diana," which airs Aug. 20. Using modern recreation technology to reconstruct the events surrounding the crash, host and investigative crime journalist Jakson Buhaj joins British forensic psychologist Kerry Daynes and former U.S. Secret Service agent Rich Staropoli to revisit the evidence, scrutinize the theories and explore what really happened that night in Paris.
Princess Diana is seen here leaving the first anti-AIDS bookshop in Paris, circa 1992. The late Princess of Wales is the subject of a new special titled "Celebrity Crime Scene: Princess Diana." (Vincent Amalvy/AFP via Getty Images)
Buhaj told Fox News Digital that knowing one simple thing might have saved the princess makes her death all the more haunting.
"It's very odd that no one was wearing a seat belt," he said. "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."
"Celebrity Crime Scene: Princess Diana" premieres Aug. 20, 2026, at 8 p.m. on FOX and will be available next day for streaming on Hulu. (Celebrity Crime Scene: Princess Diana)
Rees-Jones accompanied Diana and Fayed on their final trip, but he worked as a bodyguard for Fayed's family, not as Diana's official protection officer.
"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," Buhaj said.
"And I think that’s something that really stuck with me after we wrapped filming, that there is a whole other timeline out there where a seat belt could have saved Princess Diana."
People stand by the gilded statue Flame of Liberty that serves as an unofficial shrine to Princess Diana on Aug. 22, 2022, in Paris. (AP Photo/Aurélien Morissard)
For years, one detail about the crash was widely repeated: Rees-Jones survived because he was the only person in the Mercedes wearing a seat belt. Investigators later determined that wasn't true. The official British inquiry concluded that no one in the car was wearing a seat belt when it crashed.
Trevor Rees-Jones is seen leaving after giving evidence at the inquest into the death of Princess Diana at the High Court in London. (PA Images via Getty Images)
After the official British police inquiry concluded in 2006, Lord Stevens said Diana, Fayed and Paul might not have died had they been wearing seat belts, The Guardian reported.
Paul was scheduled to be off duty that night. His blood alcohol level was later found to be more than three times the French legal limit, People magazine reported. Surveillance video did not show obvious signs that Paul was intoxicated, and several witnesses said they noticed nothing unusual about his behavior.
Photographs of Diana, Princess of Wales, are displayed in Paris on Aug. 30, 2017. (AFP via Getty Images)
People magazine reported that Paul taunted photographers by announcing, "You won’t catch up with us." As he picked up speed, he couldn't shake the paparazzi chasing the Mercedes, including several photographers traveling on motorcycles and scooters.
Diana, Princess of Wales and Dodi Fayed sit in a Mercedes-Benz S280 with bodyguard Trevor Rees-Jones and driver Henri Paul in Paris on Aug. 31, 1997, shortly before a fatal crash. The photograph was presented as evidence at the Scott Baker Inquest, which found that Diana and Fayed were unlawfully killed due to reckless driving by Paul and pursuing paparazzi. (Sygma via Getty Images)
"There are many, many things that could have prevented the death of Princess Diana," Buhaj said. "I think getting into that car with Henri Paul was a death sentence for Princess Diana. ... And had she not done that, she could still be with us today."
The Mercedes slammed into the 13th concrete pillar of Paris’ Pont de l’Alma underpass shortly after midnight. The car then rebounded and struck the tunnel wall before coming to a stop. In the front seat, airbags were sprayed with blood, and Paul’s body pressed on the horn, People reported.
Diana, Princess of Wales and Prince William are seen holidaying in St. Tropez, France, on July 17, 1997. The photo was taken shortly before Diana and Dodi Al Fayed were killed in a car crash in Paris on Aug. 31, 1997. (Michel Dufour/WireImage)
Paul and Fayed died at the scene, while Rees-Jones suffered critical injuries. Diana was found on the floor of the mangled car, severely injured. Photographers descended on the crash scene and began taking pictures.
The wreckage of Princess Diana's car is loaded onto a truck on Aug. 31, 1997. (AFP via Getty Images)
Buhaj also found it alarming that about an hour and 40 minutes passed between the crash and Diana's arrival at the hospital. It's noted that French emergency teams followed an approach to trauma care that emphasized treating and stabilizing critically injured patients at the scene before transporting them. Diana also had to be freed from the wreckage and went into cardiac arrest before she was placed in the ambulance.
Even after the ambulance left, the driver was…
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