Princess Diana’s last words, according to the firefighter who rescued her
Diana, Princess of Wales, was conscious following the car crash in a Paris tunnel that killed her moments later on Aug. 31, 1997. Twenty years following the People’s Princess’ death, the firefighter who treated her has revealed the last words she said.
Sergeant Xavier Gourmelon led the response team that tried to save the mother of two on that fateful night. He said Diana was conscious as he pulled from the wrecked Mercedes but she suffered a cardiac arrest as she was placed on a stretcher. He managed to resuscitate her and so he thought she would survive. However, Diana had died hours later at 4 a.m. in the hospital.
“My God, what’s happened?” Diana apparently told Gourmelon. Those were now known as Diana’s last words.
Gourmelon told the Sun that he had no idea that they were rescuing Diana when they got called in. He only learnt of her identity when she had been put into the ambulance and one of the paramedics told him.
Diana, 36, was fatally injured from the crash that also killed her companion Dodi Fayed and the Mercedes Benz S280’s driver, Henri Paul, both of them were pronounced dead at the scene. She suffered from massive internal injuries and a ruptured blood vessel. Bodyguard Trevor Rees-Jones was the only survivor.
The group was trying to evade the paparazzi in Paris when Paul lost control of the rental luxury vehicle at the entrance to the Pont de l’Alma tunnel and crashed the vehicle. The Mercedes swerved to the left of the two-lane road and collided with a pillar before spinning and hitting the wall of the tunnel backwards.
Princes William and Harry’s tribute to their mother
A day before the 20th anniversary of their mother’s death, Prince William and Harry, together with William’s wife, Kate Middleton, visited the White Garden at Kensington Palace. They toured what was formerly known as the Sunken Garden to mark to pay tribute to the late princess’ life and work.
The two royals also appeared in the documentary “Diana In Her Own Words,” wherein they fondly recalled their mother’s life. They said it would be the last time they would talk about their mother in public. William and Harry were only 15 and 12 years old respectively at the time of their mother’s death.
