Following a trip to Paris, Princess Diana and Dodi Al Fayed wanted to go to dinner on August 30, 1997, at a well-known restaurant in the French capital. However, the two had to make other plans after they were discovered by the paparazzi.
Princess Diana and Dodi Al Fayed Photo: Getty Images
Therefore, they decided to eat at L’Espadon, which was the restaurant in the Ritz Carlton hotel owned by Dodi’s father. To preserve their privacy, the two eventually dined in their hotel room, Chowhound reports.
Just a few hours before the car accident that led to her death, Princess Diana allegedly ate fish, a vegetable side dish and an omelette.
L’Espadon is known for its varied dishes. For her late dinner, Princess Diana reportedly ordered Dover fish. In addition, he had vegetable tempura and an omelette with mushrooms and asparagus.
The savory omelette was most likely served French style. In the United States, the omelette is usually cooked until crisp on the edges. The French one differs because it is cooked quickly in a preheated pan with butter and then gently rolled with the other ingredients. The end result is an omelette with a soft and creamy interior.
It was the last meal of the Princess of Wales before she died in a car accident at the age of 36.
How the tragedy happened
After Princess Diana and Dodi Al Fayed had dinner at the Ritz hotel restaurant in Paris, the two were informed that a lot of paparazzi appeared in front of the entrance. To avoid them, Dodi told his driver to take the car back to his villa in an attempt to fool the photographers. Henri Paul, the head of security at the Ritz Hotel, was to be the couple’s new driver.
They boarded a rented limousine, but at the entrance to the street tunnel called Pont de l’Alma, when the car was driven at over 200 km per hour, to escape the paparazzi, in an area in which traffic was limited to 50 km per hour, the driver lost control of the direction and ran into a pillar, which supported the upper part of the tunnel.
Dodi and Henri Paul died on the spot, and Diana, who was alive, was extracted from the contorted beasts of the car, having serious chest injuries, being transported to Hôpital de la Salpêtrière. On the morning of August 31, 1997, at 3:00 a.m., Diana’s death was confirmed, at only 36 years old.
Trevor Rees-Jones, Dodi Al Fayed’s bodyguard, who was in the car in the right front seat, was the only survivor of the accident.
The investigation established that Henri Paul, the one who drove the limousine, was in a drunken state, being guilty of the accident.
