let’s remember lady Diana for her good work
The allegation that the Special Air Service, a regiment of the British Army, had engineered the 1997 car crash in Paris that killed lady Diana, is only the most recent addition to a long list of conspiracy theories surrounding the tragic cirumstances of the death of Britain's beloved Princess. With those claims now being trashed by Britain's Metropolitan Police, which on Tuesday announced that it had found no credible evidence to support the theory of SAS involvement, one hopes that this will be the last of such investigations. Sixteen years after the accident, conspiracy theories have continued to emerge with unfailing regularity — and investigating each is a tall order.
Most of these theories expectedly point to lady Diana's former husband, Charles, the Prince of Wales, and include some variant of the charge that the British royal family used state powers to eliminate the estranged Princess. This had always been a tantalising proposal — the Princess, after all, had ‘grown too big for her shoes’; her popularity in 1990s soared above that of the royal family still caught in a time warp and lurching from one scandal to another. With her out of the way, the rumour mills said, the road was clear for Prince Charles to take a new direction. Royals, conspiracy, power, murder, love and betrayal — all these ingredients boiled together in the media-pot to produce a heady concoction of conspiracy stories that has long since intoxicated the public.
It’s time to now turn down the heat, let the mix go cold and do a reality check. Four different investigations over a period of 16 years have all come to the same conclusion — that the accident was caused due to the reckless driving of chauffeur Henri Paul, who was inebriated as he sped away from the Ritz Hotel, and the paparazzi which relentlessly chased the couple into that ill-fated Paris tunnel. The initial investigation by the French authorities said as much. Then, the British conducted their Operation Paget which also looked into the many conspiracy angles. After several years of investigation, the probe reported in 2006 that Henri Paul and the pursuing paparazzi were at fault. later, an inquest was initiated in 2007. After hearing 250 witnesses and spending more than £12.5 million, it too came to the same conclusion an year later. The latest probe, into the alleged role of the British Army, was initiated this August after it became public knowledge that a soldier had boasted about the SAS “arranging” the accident which was then “covered-up”. Scotland Yard has found no merit in the allegations and has decided not to re-open the probe. With that, let’s close the tragic chapter on Princess Diana’s death and celebrate the memories of her life and work.