Could Princess Diana have survived the terrible crash that took her life had she worn a seatbelt? Read on and we’ll discuss how one investigator thinks it would have gone down.
Royal Family News: First Responder Shocked Diana Died
Royal Family news reveals that, according to David Douglas, a former senior officer in the Metropolitan Police, Diana might have survived the car accident had she been wearing a seatbelt at the time. “If they had been wearing seat belts, our experts tell us there was probably an 80 percent chance that they would have survived the accident,” Douglas told Newsweek.
Paris firefighter and first responder who administered CPR to the Princess on that fateful night, Xavier Gourmelon, told The Sun in 2017 that he had been shocked to learn of her death hours later.
“To be honest I thought she would live,” Gourmelon said. “I know now that there were serious internal injuries, but the whole episode is still very much in my mind. And the memory of that night will stay with me forever.”
Bodyguard and Paparazzi to Blame?
The Daily Mail reported in 2019 that, according to forensic pathologist Dr. Richard Shepard, Princess Diana’s death had been caused by a small vein in one of her lungs having been torn. “A very small injury — but in the wrong place,” Shepard wrote in his memoir “Unnatural Causes.”
“Her specific injury is so rare that in my entire career I don’t believe I’ve seen another.” The only survivor from the terrible accident was bodyguard Trevor Rees-Jones.
A 2008 inquest into the Princess’s death found that both Henri Paul and the paparazzi were contributing factors in her death. The jury decided that Henri, who had been found to have alcohol in his system, had killed Dodi and Diana unlawfully, per the Mirror.
Lord Justice Scott Baker, for his part, said that the accident had been caused by both “the speed and manner of the driving of the Mercedes” as well as “the speed and manner of driving of the following [paparazzi] vehicles,”
Small, Rare Injury Could Have Been Prevented with Seatbelt
Forensic pathologist Dr. Richard Sheppard, said in his book Unnatural Causes, that what killed Diana had been “rare” and “very small.” In the book, he said that the princess had sustained a tiny tear in a vein in one of her lungs, an injury that is apparently incredibly rare.
“Her specific injury is so rare that in my entire career I don’t believe I’ve seen another, Sheppard wrote, adding “Diana’s was a very small injury – but in the wrong place.” Sheppard made it clear that he believed a seatbelt would have saved Princess Di. “Had she been restrained, she would probably have appeared in public two days later with a black eye, perhaps a bit breathless from the fractured ribs and with a broken arm in a sling.”
Be sure and grab a copy of Unnatural Causes. Return here often for more Royal Family news and updates.