Death

East entrance to the Pont de l'Almatunnel in Paris[189]

Main article: Death of Diana, Princess of Wales

On 31 August 1997, Diana was fatally injured in a car crash in the Pont de l'Alma tunnel in Paris. The accident also
resulted in the deaths of her companion Dodi Fayed and the driver, Henri Paul, who was the acting security manager
of the Htel Ritz Paris; Trevor Rees-Jones(Diana's bodyguard) survived the crash. The televised funeral, on 6
September, was watched by a British television audience that peaked at 32.10 million, which was one of the United
Kingdom's highest viewing figures ever. Millions more watched the event around the world.[190][191]

Conspiracy theories, inquest and verdict[edit]

Main article: Death of Diana, Princess of Wales conspiracy theories

The initial French judicial investigation concluded that the accident was caused by Paul's drunken loss of control of
the vehicle.[192] In February 1998, Mohamed Al-Fayed, owner of the Paris Ritz where Paul had worked, publicly
maintained that the crash had been planned,[193] accusing MI6 and the Duke of Edinburgh.[194] An inquest in London
starting in 2004 and continued in 200708[195] attributed the accident to grossly negligent driving by Paul and to the
pursuing paparazzi.[196] On 7 April 2008, the jury returned a verdict of "unlawful killing". The day following the final
verdict of the inquest, Al-Fayed announced he would end his 10-year campaign to establish that it was murder rather
than an accident, stating that he did so for the sake of the Princess's children.[197]

Tribute, funeral, and burial[edit]

Main article: Funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales

Further information: Althorp Diana grave, memorial, and exhibition

Flowers outside Kensington Palace

The sudden and unexpected death of an extraordinarily popular royal figure brought statements from senior figures
worldwide and many tributes by members of the public.[198] People left public offerings of flowers, candles, cards, and
personal messages outside Kensington Palace for many months. Her coffin, draped with the royal flag, was brought
to London from Paris by Prince Charles and Diana's two sisters on 31 August 1997.[199][200] After being taken to a private
mortuary it was placed in the Chapel Royal, St James's Palace.[199]

Diana's coffin is borne through the streets of London on its way to her funeral at Westminster Abbey

Diana's funeral took place in Westminster Abbey on 6 September. The previous day Queen Elizabeth II had paid
tribute to her in a live television broadcast.[21] Her sons walked in the funeral procession behind her coffin, along with
her ex-husband the Prince of Wales, the Duke of Edinburgh, Diana's brother Lord Spencer, and representatives of
some of her charities.[21] Lord Spencer said of his sister, "She proved in the last year that she needed no royal title to
continue to generate her particular brand of magic."[201] Re-written in tribute to Diana, "Candle in the Wind" was
performed by Elton John at the funeral service (the only occasion the song has been performed live).[202] Released as
a single in 1997, the global proceeds from the song have gone to Diana's charities.[202][203][204]

Aerial view of Althorp. Diana is buried on the small island in the middle of the ornamental Round Oval lake.

The burial took place privately later the same day. Diana's former husband, sons, mother, siblings, a close friend, and
a clergyman were present. Diana's body was clothed in a black long-sleeved dress designed by Catherine Walker,
which she had chosen some weeks before. A set of rosary beads that she had received from Mother Teresa was
placed in her hands. Mother Teresa had died the same week as Diana. Diana's grave is on an island (52.283082N
1.000278W) within the grounds of Althorp Park, the Spencer family home for centuries.[205]
The burial party was provided by the 2nd Battalion The Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment, who were given the
honour of carrying the Princess across to the island and laying her to rest. Diana was the Regiment's Colonel-in-
Chief from 1992 to 1996.[206] The original plan was for Diana to be buried in the Spencer family vault at the local
church in nearby Great Brington, but Lord Spencer said that he was concerned about public safety and security and
the onslaught of visitors that might overwhelm Great Brington. He decided that Diana would be buried where her
grave could be easily cared for and visited in privacy by William, Harry, and other Spencer relatives.[207]

Later events[edit]
Following Diana's death, the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund was granted intellectual property rights over
her image.[208] In 1998, the fund sued the Franklin Mint, accusing it of illegally selling Diana dolls, plates, and jewellery
after having been refused a license to do so.[209][210] In California, where the initial case was tried, a suit to preserve the
right of publicity may be filed on behalf of a dead person, but only if that person is a Californian. The Memorial Fund
therefore filed the lawsuit on behalf of the estate and, upon losing the case, was required to pay the Franklin Mint's
legal costs of 3 million which, combined with other fees, caused the Memorial Fund to freeze its grants to charities.
[209][210]
In 2003, the Franklin Mint counter-sued. In November 2004, the case was settled out of court with the Memorial
Fund agreeing to pay 13.5 million (US$21.5 million) to charitable causes on which both sides agreed. In addition to
this, the Memorial Fund had spent a total of close to 4 million (US$6.5 million) in costs and fees relating to this
litigation, and as a result froze grants allocated to a number of charities.[211]
On 13 July 2006, Italian magazine Chi published photographs showing Diana amid the wreckage of the car crash,
[212]
despite an unofficial blackout on such photographs being published.[213][b] The editor of Chi defended his decision by
saying he published the photographs simply because they had not been previously seen, and he felt the images were
not disrespectful to the memory of Diana.[213]

Wikinews has related

news: 10 years on

Diana, Princess of

Wales remembered

The Concert for Diana at Wembley Stadium was held on 1 July 2007. The event, organised by the Princes William
and Harry, celebrated the 46th anniversary of their mother's birth and occurred a few weeks before the 10th
anniversary of her death on 31 August.[214][215] The proceeds that were earned from this event were donated to Diana's
charities.[216] On 31 August 2007, a memorial service for Diana took place in the Guards Chapel.[217] Guests included
members of the royal family and their relatives, members of the Spencer family, members of Diana's wedding party,
Diana's close friends and aides, representatives from many of her charities, British politicians Gordon Brown, Tony
Blair, and John Major, and friends from the entertainment world such as David Frost, Elton John, and Cliff Richard.[121]
In 2013, a previously unseen photograph of the then already officially engaged Diana was put up for auction. The
picture belonged to the Daily Mirror newspaper, and has "Not to be published" written on it. In it, a young Diana lies
across the lap of an unidentified man.[218]

The Princess of Wales and John Travolta dancing at the White House, November 1985

On 19 March 2013, ten of Diana's dresses, including a midnight blue velvet gown she wore to a 1985 state dinner at
the White House when she famously danced with John Travolta (which became known as the Travolta dress), raised
over 800,000 at auction in London.[219]
In January 2017, a series of letters written by Diana and other members of the Royal Family to a Buckingham Palace
steward were sold as a part of a collection titled "the private letters between a trusted butler and the royal family".[220]
[221]
The six letters that were written by Diana mainly included information about her young sons' daily life and raised
15,100.[220][221]
"Diana: Her Fashion Story", an exhibition of gowns and suits worn by the Princess, was announced to be opened at
Kensington Palace in February 2017 as a tribute to mark her 20th death anniversary, with her favorite dresses
created by numerous fashion designers, including Catherine Walker and Victor Edelstein, being displayed.[222][223] The
exhibition opened on 24 February displaying a collection of 25 dresses, and is set to remain open until 2018.[224][225]
Other tributes planned for the anniversary include exhibitions at Althorp hosted by the Princess's brother, Earl
Spencer,[226] a series of commemorating events organised by the Diana Memorial Award,[227] as well as
restyling Kensington Gardens in order to symbolise Diana's life and style.