Princess Diana died on 31 August 1997, after the car she was travelling in crashed in a Paris underpass while attempting to evade paparazzi. Now, one of the first emergency responders on the scene has shared his memory of her final moments.
What happened that night
Diana, then 36, was travelling with her partner Dodi Fayed, their driver Henri Paul, and bodyguard Trevor Rees-Jones when the car lost control entering the Pont de l'Alma underpass, colliding with a pillar at an estimated 65mph. Dodi and Henri were killed instantly. Rees-Jones survived but has said he has no memory of the crash itself due to his injuries. A forensic pathologist has since suggested Diana's injuries, while extremely rare, may have been survivable under different circumstances, including faster extraction and transport to hospital.
The firefighter's account
Xavier Gourmelon was among the first responders to reach the wreckage. He's said he didn't recognise Diana at the time, describing her simply as the blonde woman in the backseat, who was still conscious when he arrived. He recalled holding her hand and trying to reassure her while crews worked to free her from the car.
According to Gourmelon, Diana's final words before going into cardiac arrest were: "My God, what's happened?"
He performed chest compressions, and she began breathing again briefly, a moment he described as a genuine relief at the time. Believing she would survive once she was in the ambulance, he only learned of her death later, after finding out from hospital staff. He's said the internal injuries she sustained were serious, and that the events of that night have stayed with him ever since.
A death that shocked the world
Diana was pronounced dead at Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital in Paris. Her death prompted an outpouring of public grief globally, with tens of thousands gathering outside Kensington Palace, and her funeral watched by an estimated 2.5 billion people worldwide.
