Princess Diana's Death Investigating Officer Talk About His Findings Surrounding The Tragic Car Crash

Updated on August 20, 2022 08:47 AM by Anna P

In his first TV interview, Princess Diana's death investigating officer, David Douglas, spoke out about the Paris car crash after 25 years.

Fatal car accident:

On Friday, senior police officer Douglas appeared on ITV's Good Morning Britain to talk about his findings surrounding August 31, 1997, when a car crash killed Princess Diana, her boyfriend Dodi Fayed, and driver Henri Paul. Their bodyguard, Trevor Rees-Jones, was wounded but survived.

Douglas said, "It's my absolute total belief it was a terrible, tragic accident in which three people lost their lives and one other person had their life turned upside down."

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What led to that tragic accident?

Host Ranvir Singh questioned if it was the combination of paparazzi chasing the car, no seatbelts, and the driver having some drinks.

Douglas said, "When you look at most incidents, accidents, you find there's a chain of events, and if any one of those chains of events had been different, it might not have led to that happening."

He added, "For example, if they'd been wearing seatbelts, our experts tell us it was probably an 80% chance that they would have survived the accident."

Operation Paget was launched!

In 2004, British Metropolitan Police launched Operation Paget, investigating the various conspiracy theories surrounding Diana's death. Later, it was published online in 2006 for anyone to read.

Douglas said, "In the very beginning, Lord Stevens said that we're going to be as open and transparent as we could be," adding that he "stands by every word" in the report.

Prince Charles was also interviewed as part of the probe about a note that Princess Diana wrote to her butler in 1995, which said, "My husband is planning 'an accident in my car, brake failure, and serious head injury."

Douglas admitted of interviewing Prince Charles, "So it's remarkable… but it was also unremarkable because it was a straightforward witness statement from someone who happened to be the Prince of Wales."

Douglas said, "When we went in, I'd never met him before obviously; I found him charming," adding, "He was very friendly. And we sat down, Lord Stevens, Prince of Wales, his private secretary, who was there. Therefore, Michael, Pete, and myself, just the four of us in the room."

He continued, "Lord Stevens obviously took the lead and talked to Prince Charles about that note and what became obvious was that Prince Charles knew nothing about that note until it became public in 2003. He knew no more than we did."

Princess Diana's note was written during her BBC Panorama interview with Martin Bashir.

An investigation conducted last year by former supreme court judge John Dyson found that Bashir used "deceitful methods" to secure the interview by commissioning fake bank statements.

Lord Stevens regretted that he and his officers didn't interview Bashir.

According to Daily Mail, Stevens said, "If there'd been an allegation then that Bashir had produced allegedly fake documents to Princess Diana, which is a criminal offense, we'd have investigated it. My goodness me, we would have done," adding, "But this has only come out recently, which is unfortunate."