Bodyguard Says Diana Called for Dodi After Crash
March 3, 1998 - 0:0
LONDON The bodyguard who survived the car crash in which Princess Diana died says she called out for her companion Dodi al Fayed after the crash, a British journalist told Sky Television on Sunday, according to a Reuters report Bodyguard Trevor Rees-Jones says he heard Diana's voice after the accident in Paris on August 31, Piers Morgan, the editor of the Mirror newspaper who has interviewed Rees-Jones, said.
He can remember Princess Diana's voice in the back of the car calling out for Dodi Fayed, Morgan told Sky. Now if this is true, and the psychiatrists who have been coaxing these flashbacks out of him believe that it is true and an accurate portrayal of what happened that evening, then it establishes that Princess Diana was conscious after the collision.
He said this would add credence to a claim by Dodi's father, Harrods Department Store owner Mohamed al Fayed, that Diana had spoken last words, and would add to speculation about whether French emergency services acted quickly enough after the crash. Diana, Dodi and their driver Henri Paul all died in the accident. Only Rees-Jones, a 29-year-old ex-paratrooper, survived, although he suffered severe head and chest injuries.
Rees-Jones had earlier told French investigators he could remember nothing about the crash. Investigators have said Henri Paul, the driver, was over the legal drink-driving limit. The first instalment of Morgan's interview with Rees-Jones was to be published in the Mirror on Monday. However, early editions available on Sunday evening carried very few excerpts from the interview and did not mention Diana calling out for Dodi. An editor at the newspaper said more would be published in later editions.
I am starting to remember more and more, Rees-Jones said in one of the excerpts which was published. To start with I couldn't remember a thing, and the doctors weren't sure I would ever remember. I had amnesia, everything was just blank. He said his memory breakthrough had come came last Wednesday after he had seen his psychiatrist. My psychiatrist calls them windows of memory.
They are small and don't last very long, Rees-Jones said. The Mirror said that according to Rees-Jones, the driver Paul had not appeared to be obviously drunk. Rees-Jones said in a statement issued by his solicitors over the weekend that he would be speaking again to the French examining magistrate investigating the car crash. His sudden ability to remember prompted speculation in other newspapers that Rees-Jones, who works for Dodi's father, would back his employer's assertions that there was a conspiracy behind the crash.
Former Prime Minister John Major, who is the legal guardian to Diana's two sons, Princes William and Harry, criticized the continuing stream of publicity about her death. The princes would like their mother's memory respected and not distorted with wild rumor and tasteless and tacky activities, Major told BBC television.
He can remember Princess Diana's voice in the back of the car calling out for Dodi Fayed, Morgan told Sky. Now if this is true, and the psychiatrists who have been coaxing these flashbacks out of him believe that it is true and an accurate portrayal of what happened that evening, then it establishes that Princess Diana was conscious after the collision.
He said this would add credence to a claim by Dodi's father, Harrods Department Store owner Mohamed al Fayed, that Diana had spoken last words, and would add to speculation about whether French emergency services acted quickly enough after the crash. Diana, Dodi and their driver Henri Paul all died in the accident. Only Rees-Jones, a 29-year-old ex-paratrooper, survived, although he suffered severe head and chest injuries.
Rees-Jones had earlier told French investigators he could remember nothing about the crash. Investigators have said Henri Paul, the driver, was over the legal drink-driving limit. The first instalment of Morgan's interview with Rees-Jones was to be published in the Mirror on Monday. However, early editions available on Sunday evening carried very few excerpts from the interview and did not mention Diana calling out for Dodi. An editor at the newspaper said more would be published in later editions.
I am starting to remember more and more, Rees-Jones said in one of the excerpts which was published. To start with I couldn't remember a thing, and the doctors weren't sure I would ever remember. I had amnesia, everything was just blank. He said his memory breakthrough had come came last Wednesday after he had seen his psychiatrist. My psychiatrist calls them windows of memory.
They are small and don't last very long, Rees-Jones said. The Mirror said that according to Rees-Jones, the driver Paul had not appeared to be obviously drunk. Rees-Jones said in a statement issued by his solicitors over the weekend that he would be speaking again to the French examining magistrate investigating the car crash. His sudden ability to remember prompted speculation in other newspapers that Rees-Jones, who works for Dodi's father, would back his employer's assertions that there was a conspiracy behind the crash.
Former Prime Minister John Major, who is the legal guardian to Diana's two sons, Princes William and Harry, criticized the continuing stream of publicity about her death. The princes would like their mother's memory respected and not distorted with wild rumor and tasteless and tacky activities, Major told BBC television.