# Princess Diana Conspiracy? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [October 21, 2003, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/princess-diana-conspiracy/208701 "2003-10-21T14:47:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![spogga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ab097/32.png) [@spogga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spogga)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2003, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/princess-diana-conspiracy/208701/21 "2003-10-22T11:31:56Z")
Whether Diana was killed by accident or by design we shall never know and it is time that the press let sleeping dogs lie. She is dead so why the fuck they have to keep dragging up some latest twaddle is beyond me. I liked the woman, she wasn’t a saint, she wasn’t in the same category as Mother Theresa, BUT she did care about people and the terrible threat that land mines did and still present to innocents. Let the woman alone. ---
**Author:** ![notquitekarpov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71c47a/32.png) [@notquitekarpov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notquitekarpov)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2003, 11:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/princess-diana-conspiracy/208701/22 "2003-10-22T11:35:58Z")
The whole thing is total and utter drivel, solely to flog a nasty little book. If the author had thought it anything other than the paranoid ravings of a mentally unbalanced women it would surely have revealed the letter to the French official enquiry following the accident. Everybody involved, specifically including her staff, we asked to reveal any fact that they had which could possibly have an influence on the investigation. The fact that he did not reveal the existance of this letter at the appropriate time suggests to me at least that he thought the paranoia it showed would have been too damaging to her memory. This presumes he did have some degree of affection and loyalty at that time, which he has now abandoned probably for reasons to do with his trial and aquittal for the theft of Diana belongings over which (with some justification perhaps) he holds a grudge against the Royal Family. She was simply a flakey ex-wife, a whole lot more popular on the other side of the pond than in the UK. The idea she was worth murdering is simply ludicrious. To re-cap, and address each of your many questions in turn: \*\* Why do you think Princess Di felt that way?\*\* Because she was paranoid. She suffered from her (terrible) childhood from a number of mental illnesses at different times and the media pressure she was under at the time was immense. \*\* What was she involved in during that time that would have been controversial?\*\* Shagging the son of a fraudster (and self-confessed opponent of the British "old boy network’ for his failure to be granted a British passport) would not have earned her any favours but that was minor compared to her previous actions. Nothing, certainly not the anti-land mine thing. \*\* She reportedly wrote to Paul Burrell that someone was planning “an accident in my car, brake failure and serious head injury in order to make the path clear for Charles to marry.” Would Charles go that far in order to be free to marry Camilla?\*\* No of course not. I do not see marrying Camilla would have been made any more difficult either way. She is dead now and Charles will still never marry Camilla IMHO. \*\* Who would really want to see the Princess dead?\*\* Nobody as far as I can figure. Charles’s staff would probably be happier with her running around looking foolish and undermining anything anti-Charles she might later come out with, than dead and a martyr. Charles would not have wanted he kids to be without a mother however much he hated his ex-wife. \*\* Do you know of any conspiracy ideas?\*\* No. The world does not need any more conspiracy ideas/theories thank you very much! \*\* The newspaper said Diana had named the person she believed was plotting against her but that it could not reveal the identity for fear of a lawsuit. It printed a photograph of part of the letter, with the name blacked out. Why would the butler hold on to this information for 6 years without going to the authorities? You would think that would have been the first thing to do.\*\* Yes of course he would if he had taken it at all seriously. He knew the context in which it was written, he was probably aware that she was doing crazy shit all the time and to take the lid of the bottle would have opened up the whole fantasy world she lived in. We are not seeing just one isolated letter with NO context. \*\* I remember Dodi Fayed’s dad made a big fuss about a conspiracy but I never heard the end results.\*\* That was part of his campaign to show the authorities are biased against him generally by NOT holding the public enquiry he has always called for. There was a French enquiry which found it was an accident. \*\* “That letter had been part of the burden I have carried since the princess’ death,” he was quoted as saying. “Knowing what to do with it has been a source of much soul-searching.” I think this is hogwash. He is cashing in on her name right now.\*\* Damn right! He is a louse. ---
**Author:** ![Isabelle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b5a626/32.png) [@Isabelle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isabelle)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2003, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/princess-diana-conspiracy/208701/23 "2003-10-22T13:25:27Z")
I thought Charles DID marry Camilla in a private ceremony. Are they married or not? ---
**Author:** ![sinical\_brit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/48db29/32.png) [@sinical\_brit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sinical_brit)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2003, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/princess-diana-conspiracy/208701/24 "2003-10-22T13:46:47Z")
Quote “I believe she was extremely popular among the people who grew up into the soccer moms”. What does this sentance mean? What the hell is a soccer mom? ---
**Author:** ![spogga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ab097/32.png) [@spogga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spogga)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2003, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/princess-diana-conspiracy/208701/25 "2003-10-22T15:57:45Z")
**Isabelle** No they aren’t married and if ole jug ears marries that horse faced horror bag then he is a bigger twat than I thought he was. I kid you not, if Camilla Farter-Bowels was the last woman left alive I’d go looking for a plank with a knot hole in it. ---
**Author:** ![antechinus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/fbc32d/32.png) [@antechinus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/antechinus)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2003, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/princess-diana-conspiracy/208701/26 "2003-10-23T00:58:53Z")
Diana was used to being looked after by others, also she was not the sharpest tool in the shed. When the Fayeds took over the job of looking after her, they did not insist on the following safety procedures: - driver to ensure passengers wear a seatbelt at all times - driver must not drive recklessly or speed - driver must not drink under the influence of alcohol I think that Scotland Yard would have enforced these rules. The only conspiracy would be to let her loose in the world that she was less likely to survive in without special help. ---
**Author:** ![curly\_chick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ba0ec/32.png) [@curly\_chick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curly_chick)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2003, 10:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/princess-diana-conspiracy/208701/27 "2003-10-23T10:22:44Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by spogga \* > \*\*I kid you not, if Camilla Farter-Bowels was the last woman left alive I’d go looking for a plank with a knot hole in it. \*\* Well, if C P-B _was_ the last woman alive, how likely is it that you’d be anywhere near the top of her wish list? You’d better better hope that the boys ahead of you on the knotty plank clean up after themselves. But really, why does anyone give a hoot if Charles and Camilla get married? As fas as I can tell, the primary royal duty for Prince Charles, as heir apparent was to marry a fertile woman of the proper class and produce an heir presumptive. Well, guess what - he has done that, heir and spare, all grown up. Surely to God, if he wants to marry someone and she wants to marry him, it is their business? Especially since it is more than slightly doubtful that they would go on to have a child, whether they were married or not, who might then go on a murderous rampage and top his father and half brothers in an attempt to be crowned when granny popped her clogs. Don’t see it, somehow. Back to the OP - If the _conspiracy_ was true, it would have come out before now. It’s not as though the letter was held by the secret service, in a sealed box for 25 years. It was in the hands of a private citizen, who has been a bit busy; going to court, simpering on the telly and now - gasp - writing a book. I don’t doubt she wrote the letter, but I don’t think she was a particularly balanced person. And while we could argue the pros and cons of who made her unbalanced from now until doomesday, it still wouldn’t make her stated opinions any more balanced. In short - No conspiracy, but a hefty helping of paranoia ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_Wright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@Steve\_Wright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_Wright)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2003, 11:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/princess-diana-conspiracy/208701/28 "2003-10-23T11:08:31Z")
Princess Diana had no power or influence, other than the power to sell tabloid newspapers. She had no personal agenda, other than to keep living the high life and keep her name in the headlines. When asked about the constitutional implications of her behaviour, historian David Starkey was quite blunt about saying there weren’t any, and further won my undying respect by opining that she would “end up as another clapped-out celebrity swanning around in California.” (Obviously, this was before her assassination by the Evil Reptiloid UFO conspiracy and her subsequent ascension to sainthood.) If she _had_ married Dodi Fayed, they’d probably be divorced by now. This whole conspiracy thing is a lot of arrant nonsense. Hogwash, from start to finish. ---
**Author:** ![Futile\_Gesture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f05b48/32.png) [@Futile\_Gesture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Futile_Gesture)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2003, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/princess-diana-conspiracy/208701/29 "2003-10-23T16:26:40Z")
What **notquitekarpov** and **Steve Wright** said. 100% BS. Diana was a not-too-bright, paranoid, manipulative drama queen. Burrell is an odious hanger-on peddling gossip in the hope of making £££££s. Mohamed Al Fayed is a compulsive fabricator of facts. It was a tragedy all round for both families, but they are as disfunctional a bunch as you’re ever likely to come across. I wouldn’t believe a word any of them say. The plain and boring truth is a drunken driver driving too fast. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2003, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/princess-diana-conspiracy/208701/30 "2003-12-18T17:29:17Z")
As you know, I like good conspiracy story as much as the next guy. Okay, more. Lots more. But note I said _good_ conspiracy stories. Those are the ones where you read the “evidence” and say, “Hey, he might have something!” The ones with wheels within wheels within things that are vaguely round but they’ll roll if you push them hard enough. Now the inquest into the death of Princess Diana is finally beginning, pushed on by Dodi’s dadi, and all the theories and suspicions will be put to rest. :rolleyes: It’s hard when your son and heir is plucked from your bosom. It can be especially difficult if the son is rippin’ off a piece of royal ass and that union would force high society to finally treat you as an equal. (Yeah, right. That’s gonna happen.) So I can understand Mr Al Fayed’s desire to get to the bottom of it. But a good conspiracy needs paperwork, not just suspicions and accusations, to remain interesting. The letter by Diana is a start but it is not enough to keep it rolling. Has **anything** come out that might lend support to the theories? ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2003, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/princess-diana-conspiracy/208701/31 "2003-12-18T19:32:29Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by sinical brit \* > \*\*Quote “I believe she was extremely popular among the people who grew up into the soccer moms”. > > What does this sentance mean? What the hell is a soccer mom? \*\* A “Soccer mom” would be an American expression to refer to the upper or middle class wife who does not need to work. She drives a big SUV filled with her kids to and from their various school’s soccer games. They were reputed to be an important voting bloc for President Bill Clinton. Let me tell you from personal experiance they really do idolize Princess Di, why? A total mystery to me. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2003, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/princess-diana-conspiracy/208701/32 "2003-12-20T00:42:27Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Boo Boo Foo \* > \*\*I agree with you **Haj** about her not predicting jackshit - but in the interests of fairness - there ARE some loose ends about the French investigation into the accident. > > Some of those loose ends are… > > (1) The radar traffic camera which photographs incoming vehicles into the tunnel “going above the speed limit”. The French claimed that the camera was out of order on the night of the crash and as such, no definitive assessment was able to be made of the Mercedes entrance speed. > > (2) Within 48 hours of the crash, the French issued a press release which stated that the Mercedes speedometer had been frozen at 192kmh at the instant of the crash. Since then, Mercedes have proven conclusively that their electronic data displays instantly return to zero the moment any of their impact sensors are activated, and in turn, they have claimed that the French asssertion of 192kmh is pure bullshit. Moreover, Mercedes have totally and flat out been denied any access whatsoever to investigate the car, or the on board data mapping. The vehicle remains locked in a Freight container outside Charles de Gaul airport. > > (3) Two weeks after the crash, two drivers received automatic speeding fines in the mail for entering the tunnel “above the speed limit” just 5 and 2 minutes prior to the crash. Those envelopes included automatic closeup photographs of the occupants of the cars. A similar photograph of the Diana Mercedes has been circulated too, which showed an entrance speed of just 123kmh - a far sight less than 192kmh. The only existence of the Diana photo however is a faxed copy sent from the offices of the Traffic Investigation branch some 5 hours after the crash. The photo has since gone missing, and the spin that the camera was “out of order” at the time has since replaced it. > > (4) Henri Paul’s autopsy was extremely dubious. Amongst the various other toxicology findings in his blood was a carbon-monoxide reading of 0.27% per volume - which apparently is enough to make you violently ill and vomitous amongst other things. The morgue where the autopsy was performed included a suicide victim who had gassed himself in the oven. There is great speculation that blood samples were mixed - either consciously or deliberately to pain Henri Paul as the fall guy. > > (5) And yet, just 15 minutes prior to the Mercedes leaving the rear of the Ritz Hotel, in house security video shows an extremely professional and sober looking Henri Paul issuing directions to his various security staff at the hotel. Indeed, Monsieur Paul then proceeds to lower himself onto his haunches and redo both of shoe laces on both shoes, elegantly transferring weight from one foot to the other while doing so. He then proceeds to stand and continue his business. The footage that I’ve personally seen shows a man who is totally sober - not the slightest hint of a wobble, or a balance adjustment. Try it yourself after a six pack one time - to do such a thing without showing a hint of intoxication is basically impossible. \*\* Dropzone, the above was posted in another thread on this topic. To me, all of the above looks like just normal post-incident “fog”. None of it provides any positive evidence of a conspiracy. The only way you can say these points suggest a conspiracy is by subscribing to the laughable theory that unless the investigation of an incident reveals a picture that is utterly consistent in every way, and totally without mistakes, mis-understandings, unexplained loose ends or anomalies there must be a conspiracy. In which case _every single investigation I’ve ever been involved in_ (and that would be about 4 or 5 a year for the last 13 years) has revealed a conspiracy. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2003, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/princess-diana-conspiracy/208701/33 "2003-12-20T01:58:44Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Isabelle \* > \*\*It was in the news last night that Princess Diana wrote months before her death that she feared someone was planning to harm her in a staged car accident, a newspaper reported Monday. > \*\* If Diane actually thought this then why didn’t she use safety restraints? She’s the poster-child for seatbelts. The only person to survive was wearing a belt, and he was more exposed to trauma than Diane. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2003, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/princess-diana-conspiracy/208701/34 "2003-12-20T04:32:17Z")
**soccer mom** Function: _noun_ Date: 1987 : a typically suburban mother who accompanies her children to their soccer games and is considered as part of a significant voting bloc or demographic group ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2003, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/princess-diana-conspiracy/208701/35 "2003-12-20T05:26:04Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by Princhester Try it yourself after a six pack one time - to do such a thing without showing a hint of intoxication is basically impossible._ (giggling) I’m beginning to doubt BooBooFoo is the Aussie rocker he claims to be if he’s never managed to look sober when he had to, like when the boss might be watching. 😃 192 or 123 (conspiracy buffs: notice the 23?), that sounds too fast for that ramp and tunnel, though I’ve never been there. Either speed is enough to trash all on board, even with airbags. ---
**Author:** ![DanBlather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f4b2a3/32.png) [@DanBlather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DanBlather)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2003, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/princess-diana-conspiracy/208701/36 "2003-12-20T22:28:34Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Ryan\_Liam \* > \*\*Generally, it was to stop princess Diana marrying a Muslim, its either that or letting Charles get married with no strings attatched. \*\* This brought up the image of Charles sayinh he wanted to be a Tampon and live in Camilla’s pants. ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2003, 9:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/princess-diana-conspiracy/208701/37 "2003-12-21T09:22:48Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by hawthorne \* > \*\*I reckon it’s a conspiracy to sell tatty books. \*\* _Ding Ding Ding_ We have a Winner folks!!! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/princess-diana-conspiracy/208701.md?page=1)