Fasten Your Seatbelts

It was going to drive her crazy. “Fasten your seatbelts, it’s going to be a bumpy night.” She’d heard it where? She could hear the woman saying it, see the actress standing on a staircase in a black gown. It was the movie that had been on in the background while she was sorting out what she was going to do, if she was coming on this stupid trip just to show Hasnat she wasn’t down (even though she was). Bette Davis, that’s who the voice belonged to. “All the boys think she’s a spy, something, something, Bette Davis eyes.” Great, now that would be running around in her head for the rest of the night. And now Dodi had a new plan. He was going to have decoy cars and they were slipping out the back with this guy his father had pulled back on duty. She smiled slightly as she placed the voice; Bette Davis’ voice was certainly better than hers for drama. “Fasten your seatbelts, it’s going to be a bumpy night,” Bette said again. Well, it had certainly been a bumpy night so far and she’d yet to fasten a belt in any of the cars she’d been in. She was ready to go home and see her boys, because Dodi was fast becoming a bore of the first level – he was starting to make Charles’ ‘green’ talk interesting. But Dodi (or his father) was paying, and she was getting some sun and some press and maybe when she got back, Hasnat would be ready to see reason about a future together.

Dodi was pressing her to stay in Paris; they’d met that summer and he said he didn’t want it to end. She did. She was more than ready to return home, even if she couldn’t see the boys right away. It really didn’t have anything to do with Dodi; she was just done with this summer, and Hasnat not calling, and her friends being everywhere else (often leaving her feeling without a friend to talk with), and the ever-changing plans Dodi made (and his ever-present phone with which he kept calling his dad, which made her wonder just which of them she was dating sometimes.) They were in the elevator down now, the bodyguard and Dodi fretting with other hotel employees about getting them out without a riot. Then it was out the back of the hotel (she felt like she was sneaking out without paying for some reason) and into the car. And then it was Bette again, “….it’s going to be a bumpy night.” To shut her up, she did what she always did in England: she fastened her seatbelt.

“You don’t need –“ began Dodi but she shook her head.

“I’m shutting up a voice in my head; she’s been telling me to buckle up all night,” she said with a smile. Dodi didn’t understand, but smiled back – but didn’t fasten his as the car pulled out only to discover the paparazzi were onto this new plan.

“Lose them,” Dodi ordered the driver before sitting back in his seat. The man, whose name Diana realized she didn’t know, replied:

“Oui.” And then they were out in the traffic.
 
This got posted to get it off my brain. About two or three months back, I watched "All About Eve" (the movie the quote is from) and the very next day saw headlines on the 'anti-intellectual press' about how Prince Charles had her murdered. Somehow, the quote and Diana got hitched in my brain and this was born.
 
Someone wanting to help me and knowing more about Diana, POW would be useful......I know way more about Wallis, Duchess of Windsor. A PM, or a nudge in the thread?
 
Headlines and partial news stories: 31 August – 3 September 1997:

Princess In Crash

(London) Diana, Princess of Wales, is in a Paris hospital under guard following a car accident which killed the driver of the vehicle and Dodi Fayed, son of Harrod’s owner Mohammed al-Fayed. The extent of her injuries are unknown. Diana’s sons, Princes William and Henry, her ex-husband Prince Charles and her sister Jane Fellowes are en route to Paris at this time.


ALIVE! Diana Survives Crash That Kills Two

(Paris) Doctors credit the use of her seatbelt as the sole reason the Princess of Wales survived the horrific auto accident that killed Emad “Dodi” al-Fayed, son of Harrod’s owner Mohammed al-Fayed, and the chauffeur Henri Paul, and severely injured Trevor Rees-Jones, both employed by al-Fayed. She did not escape injury, as was reported by some earlier today, but has a broken right clavicle, two fractured ribs on her left side, bruising along the line of her shoulder-style seatbelt, and whiplash.


Driver Drunk – Bodyguard Remembers Nothing

(Paris) Initial reports from the hospital reveal that Henri Paul, driver of the Mercedes in the crash that killed him and the son of his employer (Mohammed al-Fayed), was well over the legal limit for alcohol. Trevor Rees-Jones, who was seated in the front and, while saved by the airbag, has no memory of the crash that put him into hospital. Rees-Jones has given a statement to the police in which he states that Mr. Paul did not appear intoxicated but only met him in the elevator on the way to the car and had little interaction with the driver. He confirmed he did smell alcohol on Paul’s breath, but in his actions, he did not ‘look drunk’.


Paparazzi Arrested as Second Car Sought

(Paris) Eight freelance photographers were arrested as the investigation into the automobile accident that killed two and left a bodyguard and Diana, Princess of Wales injured and hospitalized. The police believe that they may have interfered with the speeding Mercedes as it entered the tunnel. Witnesses also mentioned a car described a white car, possibly a Fiat Uno, that may have had contact with the Mercedes shortly before the crash.



Diana Will Return to London Tomorrow

(London) Robert Fellowes, brother-in-law of the Princess of Wales and Private Secretary for the Queen, released a statement that his sister-in-law would be flown by private medical plane to England, where she would join the Royal Family at Sandringham, where both of her sisters were waiting with their families as well. Fellowes confirmed the statement from Earl Spencer that the Earl and his family would not be joining Diana there. There was no comment on the statement from Earl Spencer that the Royal family was as responsible as the press for the accident.



My Son Loved Diana

(London) Mohammed al-Fayed buried his son yesterday and today revealed via a press release that in his last conversation with his son Dodi, his son informed him that he was in love with Diana, Princess of Wales, and that he believed she was in love with him. A spokesperson from the Princess of Wales’ office declined to comment on that statement or his revelation that Dodi was purchasing a ring for her.


Brief view from a hospital room, 3 September 1997 after the printing of the last headline & story:

“Rubbish, I’d just met the man,” she said to the Scotland Yard man who was now a permanent fixture. She’d agreed to the assessment of the British Ambassador that she needed professionals, not randomly hired men, for protection. She hated needing ‘protection’ – it made her sound like a child in care, not a woman who’d survived the Firm and a serious auto accident. But a professional might have spotted Paul’s lack of sobriety and saved not only Paul but Dodi as well; something Dodi’s formidable father disagreed with when he’d been allowed through earlier.

The detective shrugged. “They’ve got to print something, ma’am,” was his only comment.
 

Archibald

Banned
Cool, a surviving Diana TL. I remember all too well the tragedy - it was one of the saddest moments of the 90's, in par with Ayrton Senna own crash and death.
 
My immediate reaction to reading the news (I was working overtime by going in early) was "Let the deification begin."

I don't know who she might hook up with, anything like that, following all this. I really could use some help. PM me if you don't want to go public with your participation....
 
Thanks, hadn't thought about the legal repercussions.
I'm no legal expert, let alone in France, but....

Yeah, they're looking at 15-20 years, depending on the judge's mood. And Britain is about to really crack down, given the Royals nearly lost someone to them.
 
Headlines and partial news stories, 15 September 1997 – 2 October 1997



Blood Tests Wrong

(London) Mohammed al-Fayed is disputing the results of the blood tests on driver Henri Paul from the August 31st crash that killed his son as well as Paul.

“My drivers would never endanger my son. This accident was caused by the paparazzi vultures who chased the car and side-swiped it,” he told reporters yesterday. “This is an attempt to divert attention from that fact.”

Chemists from the Pitie-Salpetriere Hospital disagree, the hospital released the results of the blood test, which included anti-depressants as well as an anti-psychotic medication which may have intensified the effects of the alcohol – which they still maintain was three times the legal limit for French law.




We Are Not the Villains

(London) Members of the so-called paparazzi, currently being blamed for the crash that almost killed Diana, Princess of Wales, are firing back. They state that they are providing a service for newspapers and magazines all over the world and the people who are howling for their blood should look in the mirror to see who is responsible for their pursuit of photographs of the ‘most photographed woman on the planet’.



Paps Released, Driver Caused Wreck

(Paris) All eight paparazzi detained following the accident which injured Diana, Princess of Wales, have been released pending the decision that it was the driver’s intoxication and not the pursuing photographers, that caused the actions. The judge cited Diana’s own words: “Dodi told him to lose them, and to drive.” The judge commented that Emad “Dodi” al-Fayed’s order to ‘lose them’ when they were not interfering with the vehicle started the accident, which culminated in the deaths of Fayed and driver Henri Paul, and critically injured bodyguard Trevor Rees-Jones (still in hospital) and the Princess of Wales.



Diana Testifies

(Paris) With her right arm still in a sling, the Princess of Wales gave testimony Monday for the investigation into the crash that could have taken her life a month ago. Her participation was voluntary, according to a statement issued by her office at Kensington Palace; but she was formally subpoenaed in accordance to the law. Unlike sightings in the UK, she was no longer wearing the neck brace that has been part of her attire since the accident.
 
Paps Released, Driver Caused Wreck

(Paris) All eight paparazzi detained following the accident which injured Diana, Princess of Wales, have been released pending the decision that it was the driver’s intoxication and not the pursuing photographers, that caused the actions. The judge cited Diana’s own words: “Dodi told him to lose them, and to drive.” The judge commented that Emad “Dodi” al-Fayed’s order to ‘lose them’ when they were not interfering with the vehicle started the accident, which culminated in the deaths of Fayed and driver Henri Paul, and critically injured bodyguard Trevor Rees-Jones (still in hospital) and the Princess of Wales.
Feck off judge, you really messed up.
 
Yeah, but they weren't drunk on top of meds..... which won't keep legislation from being proposed.....the driver being drunk saved their collective asses. But Rees-Jones was supposed to be a bodyguard and didn't notice their driver was tanked? That's always made me wonder, but he & Paul were both working for Fayed.
 
Somebody please tell me which New York daily news (general circulation) will print any juicy story, not just straight news? I'm in Oklahoma.
 
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