Princess Diana Assassination: Not The Usual Suspects
No self-respecting assassination plot is complete without a cast of patsies and this one is no different. This plot in fact has more than its fair share of patsies! The word paparazzi became common language after August 31, 1997, the night that Princess Diana was killed.
No self-respecting assassination plot is complete without a cast of patsies and this one is no different. This plot in fact has more than its fair share of patsies! The word paparazzi became common language after August 31, 1997, the night that Princess Diana was killed.
From the moment Princess Diana and Dodi Fayed arrived in Paris from Sardinia on August 30, 1997 they were harassed by an unusually aggressive breed of Paparazzi! One dark car in particular, filled with "paparazzi," weaved, swerved and braked recklessly and dangerously in front of their limo as Dodi and Diana were ferried from the airport.
Thus a precedent was being set for what was to come later that night leading up to the crash. In all likelihood that car and those men in the car were not paparazzi but rather security agents (intelligence agents) setting a pattern of behavior that would stick in everyone's mind thereby reinforcing the impression that it was the paparazzi who caused the crash!
Another strange coincidence (and certainly not the last) was that there were no British journalists entrenched within the ranks of the paparazzi that night in Paris. It's not as if Princess Diana's and Dodi Fayed's plans were a secret; which begs the question, were the British journalists warned to stay away? After all photos of Princess Diana commanded a hefty price so it would have been very much in the interest of those journalists to have been in Paris with the rest of the pack that weekend.
Parade of Patsies
Multiple eyewitness accounts from individuals in the tunnel at the time of the crash differentiate the main pack of the paparazzi from the two vehicles that appeared to work in tandem to cause the crash. These two vehicles, a powerful motorbike ridden by two riders and a white Fiat Uno were hot on the tail of the Mercedes prior to its entry into the Point d'Alma tunnel (the Fiat Uno was actually ahead of the Mercedes as if waiting in ambush) and they also happened to be way ahead of the other genuine paparazzi vehicles!
Thus by all accounts the real paparazzi were not in the tunnel at the moment of the crash! But they certainly made a very convenient and believable scapegoat or in any other language…patsy!
Paparazzi Frenzy Fest!
It is a well publicized fact that several persons took photos of the wrecked Mercedes and its occupants in the initial aftermath of the crash. Could some of those callous journalists have actually been security operatives (intelligence agents) who'd been loitering and mingling with the other paparazzi much of the day of August 30, 1997? The former Chief Superintendent of Scotland Yard, John McNamara, who was appointed by Mohamed Al Fayed to head an investigation of the crash confirmed from security camera footage from that night were indeed British and other foreign intelligence operatives mingling with the crowd of paparazzi.
Police Confiscate Crash Photos Supposedly Out Of Concern For Family Members
French Police wasted no time whatsoever in confiscating all photographs and other footage of the crash scene. The basis for their actions was apparently out of concern for the emotional trauma it would cause the relatives of the crash victims. But was that really their motivation; certainly it was quite convenient for the public to think so but what if there was another more sinister ulterior motive? Perhaps they were making sure that there were no loose ends left, like compromising photographs that could contradict the official account!
A Rash Of Press Agency Burglaries
Evidence tending to support the ulterior-motive angle is amply illustrated by the spate of similar burglaries that happened within hours of the crash. As things turned out, it so happened that not all the photos of the crash scene were confiscated by the French Police. Time is money, and nowhere is that adage as true as in the celebrity photojournalism business. Thus it really wasn't too surprising that some images of the crash got to London before the French Police and other security agents could get their hands on them. But ultimately it made little difference because London happened to be the plotters' backyard.
Just hours after the crash photojournalist Lionel Cherruault had his home burgled following a contact from a fellow journalist concerning photos taken of the crash in the Point d'Alma tunnel. Another photojournalist was to suffer the same fate too; Darryn Lyons had his London photo lab broken into the very same day that he received emailed images of the crash from French photo agent Laurent Sola.
What Was On The Photos That Could Not Be Allowed To Become Public?
While Dodi Fayed and Princess Diana were getting killed, the other decoy vehicles (a Mercedes S600 in which they'd been traveling all day and an escort Range Rover) had proceeded via another route to Dodi's apartment. When they got there, Dodi's other bodyguard (Kez Wingfield) and regular driver (Philippe Dourneau) heard of the crash and immediately rushed to the tunnel. Wingfield proceeded to call Dodi's father in London and informed him of the crash while Dourneau went to check on the wrecked vehicle and its occupants.
Dourneau's assessment of Princess Diana's injuries was that she had hurt her legs but otherwise appeared fine! There're also other witness accounts that largely contradict the official account, in that Princess Diana was not as badly injured as was made out. In fact many of the paparazzi claim that the Princess was sitting up and conscious after the crash at the time they took photos.
Could the fact that Princess Diana was not as critically injured as has been widely reported have been the real reason why the plotters were so frantic to get their hands on all photos?
Enter The Fallback Patsy!
Much in part to the numerous contradictory eyewitness accounts, it soon became clear to the plotters that pursuing the paparazzi-as-the-cause-of-the-crash angle was a lost cause. The grieving public simply wasn't buying it! It was time to move on to the fallback patsy, a scapegoat that turned out to be much more readily accepted by the world at large!
After several days of being held incommunicado the arrested paparazzi were eventually released but with strict warning not to talk or to publish any photos about the Diana crash if they valued their careers and lives! Like many a witness in this conspiracy, those journalists have largely kept quiet out of fear that they may wind up dead!
So who was the fallback patsy? The driver Henri Paul of course! The plot claims that he was a chronic alcoholic who happened to be heavily under the influence of booze the very night of the crash. Unfortunately for the plotters that theory too doesn't hold water (Read about Henri Paul alleged drunkenness here) and there only hope now is that their biggest ally of all (time) will not fail them!
Parade of Patsies
Multiple eyewitness accounts from individuals in the tunnel at the time of the crash differentiate the main pack of the paparazzi from the two vehicles that appeared to work in tandem to cause the crash. These two vehicles, a powerful motorbike ridden by two riders and a white Fiat Uno were hot on the tail of the Mercedes prior to its entry into the Point d'Alma tunnel (the Fiat Uno was actually ahead of the Mercedes as if waiting in ambush) and they also happened to be way ahead of the other genuine paparazzi vehicles!
Thus by all accounts the real paparazzi were not in the tunnel at the moment of the crash! But they certainly made a very convenient and believable scapegoat or in any other language…patsy!
Paparazzi Frenzy Fest!
It is a well publicized fact that several persons took photos of the wrecked Mercedes and its occupants in the initial aftermath of the crash. Could some of those callous journalists have actually been security operatives (intelligence agents) who'd been loitering and mingling with the other paparazzi much of the day of August 30, 1997? The former Chief Superintendent of Scotland Yard, John McNamara, who was appointed by Mohamed Al Fayed to head an investigation of the crash confirmed from security camera footage from that night were indeed British and other foreign intelligence operatives mingling with the crowd of paparazzi.
Police Confiscate Crash Photos Supposedly Out Of Concern For Family Members
French Police wasted no time whatsoever in confiscating all photographs and other footage of the crash scene. The basis for their actions was apparently out of concern for the emotional trauma it would cause the relatives of the crash victims. But was that really their motivation; certainly it was quite convenient for the public to think so but what if there was another more sinister ulterior motive? Perhaps they were making sure that there were no loose ends left, like compromising photographs that could contradict the official account!
A Rash Of Press Agency Burglaries
Evidence tending to support the ulterior-motive angle is amply illustrated by the spate of similar burglaries that happened within hours of the crash. As things turned out, it so happened that not all the photos of the crash scene were confiscated by the French Police. Time is money, and nowhere is that adage as true as in the celebrity photojournalism business. Thus it really wasn't too surprising that some images of the crash got to London before the French Police and other security agents could get their hands on them. But ultimately it made little difference because London happened to be the plotters' backyard.
Just hours after the crash photojournalist Lionel Cherruault had his home burgled following a contact from a fellow journalist concerning photos taken of the crash in the Point d'Alma tunnel. Another photojournalist was to suffer the same fate too; Darryn Lyons had his London photo lab broken into the very same day that he received emailed images of the crash from French photo agent Laurent Sola.
What Was On The Photos That Could Not Be Allowed To Become Public?
While Dodi Fayed and Princess Diana were getting killed, the other decoy vehicles (a Mercedes S600 in which they'd been traveling all day and an escort Range Rover) had proceeded via another route to Dodi's apartment. When they got there, Dodi's other bodyguard (Kez Wingfield) and regular driver (Philippe Dourneau) heard of the crash and immediately rushed to the tunnel. Wingfield proceeded to call Dodi's father in London and informed him of the crash while Dourneau went to check on the wrecked vehicle and its occupants.
Dourneau's assessment of Princess Diana's injuries was that she had hurt her legs but otherwise appeared fine! There're also other witness accounts that largely contradict the official account, in that Princess Diana was not as badly injured as was made out. In fact many of the paparazzi claim that the Princess was sitting up and conscious after the crash at the time they took photos.
Could the fact that Princess Diana was not as critically injured as has been widely reported have been the real reason why the plotters were so frantic to get their hands on all photos?
Enter The Fallback Patsy!
Much in part to the numerous contradictory eyewitness accounts, it soon became clear to the plotters that pursuing the paparazzi-as-the-cause-of-the-crash angle was a lost cause. The grieving public simply wasn't buying it! It was time to move on to the fallback patsy, a scapegoat that turned out to be much more readily accepted by the world at large!
After several days of being held incommunicado the arrested paparazzi were eventually released but with strict warning not to talk or to publish any photos about the Diana crash if they valued their careers and lives! Like many a witness in this conspiracy, those journalists have largely kept quiet out of fear that they may wind up dead!
So who was the fallback patsy? The driver Henri Paul of course! The plot claims that he was a chronic alcoholic who happened to be heavily under the influence of booze the very night of the crash. Unfortunately for the plotters that theory too doesn't hold water (Read about Henri Paul alleged drunkenness here) and there only hope now is that their biggest ally of all (time) will not fail them!
