She was a much beloved public figure who died violently 16 years ago. But was it a car accident or not? British investigators say they are looking into some new information about the death of Princess Diana.
Born Lady Diana Francis Spencer, she became the Princess of Wales in 1981. Her wedding to Prince Charles was viewed by approximately 750 million people worldwide.
In 1997, Princess Diana was killed in a car accident in Paris along with Dodi Al-Fayed, and her driver, Henri Paul. French investigators initially thought, at the time, Paul caused the car crash while driving drunk. Paul’s employer, Mohamed Al-Fayed was also Dodi’s father. He said the car accident had been planned and that Diana had been murdered by members of British military and the Duke of Edinburgh, the Queen of England’s husband. Just a year earlier, the Prince and Princess of Wales had divorced after a formal request by Elizabeth II. It was rumored the Queen asked the couple to divorce after Princess Diana aired “dirty laundry” during a television interview.
A British inquest began in 2004 and continued for about four years afterward. Officials formally concurred with the earlier French inquiry and ruled Diana’s death an “unlawful killing” resulting from both Paul’s negligence and from crazed paparazzi that’d chased her into a roadway tunnel.
Now, 16 years later, Scotland Yard says they’ve learned something new. They say although they won’t release details about the new information, the new inquiry comes under the purview of the “special crimes and operations command,” of the Metropolis Police Service. According to a report, the reexamination into the case was authorized by Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe, the head the agency.
The original report about Princess Diana’s death was extremely lengthy and detailed. Consisting of approximately 832 pages, it took 14 police officers nearly three years to complete. Operations Paget, not the Metropolis Police Service was name of the Metropolis police inquiry led by Lord Stevens of Kirkwhelpington.