By: HISTORY.com Editors
Princess Diana dies in a car crash
Shortly after midnight on August 31, 1997, Diana, Princess of Wales—affectionately known as Lady Di or "the People’s Princess"—dies in a car crash in Paris.
She was 36 year old at the time of her death. Her boyfriend, the Egyptian-born socialite Dodi Fayed, and the driver of the car, Henri Paul, died as well.
Princess Diana was one of the most popular public figures in the world, and her death was met with a massive outpouring of grief. Mourners began visiting Kensington Palace immediately, leaving bouquets at the home where the princess would never return. Stacks of flowers, cards, candles and mementoes reached some 30 feet from the palace's gate.
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Diana and Dodi—who had been vacationing in the French Riviera—arrived in Paris earlier the previous day. They left the Ritz Paris Hotel just after midnight, intending to go to Dodi’s apartment on the Rue Arsène Houssaye. As soon as they departed the hotel, a swarm of paparazzi on motorcycles began aggressively tailing their car. About three minutes later, the driver lost control and crashed into a pillar at the entrance of the Pont de l'Alma tunnel.
Dodi and the driver were pronounced dead at the scene. Diana was taken to the Pitié-Salpêtrière hospital and declared dead at 6:00 am. (A fourth passenger, Diana’s bodyguard Trevor Rees-Jones, was seriously injured but survived.) Diana's former husband Charles, as well as her sisters and other members of the Royal Family, arrived in Paris that morning. Diana’s body was then taken back to London.
Like much of her life, her death was a full-blown media sensation, and the subject of many conspiracy theories. At first, the paparazzi hounding the car were blamed for the crash, but later it was revealed that the driver was under the influence of alcohol and prescription drugs. A formal investigation concluded the paparazzi did not cause the collision.
Princess Diana’s funeral in London, on September 6, 1997, was watched by more than 2 billion people. She was survived by her two sons, Prince William, who was 15 at the time, and Prince Harry, who was 12. Diana was buried on a small island in the middle of a lake at Althorp, her family's estate in Northamptonshire, England.
Why Princess Diana’s 1995 BBC Interview Shocked the World
The interview, in which Princess Diana talked about her struggles with mental health and her marriage, rocked the royal family and generated empathy among the public.
The interview, in which Princess Diana talked about her struggles with mental health and her marriage, rocked the royal family and generated empathy among the public.
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Citation Information
- Article Title
- Princess Diana dies in a car crash
- Author
- HISTORY.com Editors
- Website Name
- History
- Date Accessed
- October 21, 2026
- Publisher
- A&E Television Networks
- Last Updated
- August 11, 2026
- Original Published Date
- August 29, 2019
