Does Harry honestly think Diana was killed by the paps?

[leopardskincolour]

Just that really. I'm still reading the book so I might be wrong, but so far he seems she "went into hiding" because of the paps, and not the fault of the RF?

Yeah, that’s exactly what Harry says in the Tom Bradby interview - change one factor (paps or another factor) and it wouldn’t have happened.

Fuller account of UK inquest.

amp.theguardian.com/uk/2008/apr/08/diana.monarchy3

she was being spied on by Met protection officers to the point of refusing them.

I think I read, probably on MN, that a Met protection officer wouldn’t have allowed her to get in the car. They’d have to defend their actions to the Met whereas a private bodyguard wouldn’t be in the same position.

Based on the book, another element of his anger with the paps over her death is that he believed, based on official photographs he viewed of the accident scene, that members of the press took pictures of her after she was clearly injured. He remembers wondering if flashbulbs were the last thing she consciously saw, and being upset because he remembered from childhood that she disliked and was anxious about suddenly having pictures taken up close when she wasn't expecting it.

(Note - I don't know if there's any independent evidence of this, or if it was just his conclusion from what he saw in the photographs.)

A drunk driver had to be the biggest link, a sober experienced driver would have the capacity to understand he could not outrun the paparazzi. The faster he went the faster they went as they had no plans to overtake as they needed to stay behind there was no benefit whatsoever in speeding in a tunnel.

Martin Bashir created fake evidence which made Diana believe that the closest people to her were being paid to spy on her.

Imagine thinking that you had established that small circle of trust, and then somebody shows you evidence to prove they are all lying to you every day.

She got rid of her private secretary and her protection officers because of this, and she went to her death not knowing who she had left in the world that was not being paid to report back on everything she did in her private life.

Once Martin created this world of not knowing where it was safe to turn, Diana was always going to be at risk.

She had to look over her shoulder every minute of every day, and he destroyed all of the protection that was in place around her.

It was this that led to the car accident, and if it hadn’t been that car on that night, she was always going to be physically at risk of something happening.

Whilst Martin did not physically cause the crash, he caused Diana to believe that she was in a position where she had no choice but to dash across Paris in a speeding car without her bodyguards present and without the advice of her protection officers, her private secretary, or even some of her loyal friends.

She would never have been in that situation if it was not for Martin Bashir.

This is why William was so angry with Martin, and this is why he requested that the interview never be shown again.

He knows that his mother was speaking in that interview under the premise of something which we all now know not to be true, and that this not only impacted her decision to do the interview, but also impacted all her decision making from there on in.

It's also been said that they only went back out that night because Al fayed insisted that they change hotels. There was no need to do that.
If that was the case, it begs the question, had he called the paps because he wanted the public to see her at his hotels? He wanted that connection and he wanted the public to know it existed, like the engagement ring thing. It would never have fit her in a 100 years btw.
Also, Diana wasn't beyond calling them herself.

Anyhoo, that said, drunk driver, speeding car, bend in road ( i think ) no seatbelt!

Incidentally, what the hell right did harry think he had to put other people in danger by making them drive him through that tunnel at the same speed! Bad enough expecting them to take a hit on their driving licences if caught but to risk their lives for his own selfish ends, shame on him!

So you’re blaming a woman for her own death at the behest of paparazzi after a lifetime of harassment.

how lovely !

If Diana had been using her personal bodyguard she would have been wearing her seat belt. I have seen an interview with him where he said that he wouldn't have allowed the car to move unless everyone was wearing their seat belts. From what I have seen when the car crashed Dodi was flung forward & him hitting Henri Paul was what killed them both so presumably Diana was flung in to the back of the bodyguards seat & that is where her chest injuries that killed her happened. Yes probably the paps driving & flashing distracted Henri Paul but due to his drug & alcohol levels his reactions would have slowed down & he was unable to take evasive action when the car steered towards the pillar.

I’d wonder if he also blames his family for removing her HRH title and thus Diana losing her security. If Diana had her own security then the ifs are possible all over again

She refused her security rather than it being taken away

The problem with PH is that he gets something in his head and then that's that, eg his dad tells him MM isn't t welcome to come to QE deathbed and apparently that's something he won't tolerate, it's the newspapers fault the Taliban are after him because of how they reported his 25 kills, we told our dad not to marry someone e and he did anyway (when they were adults!) .... so whatever PH thinks in his peabrain is absolutely correct.

She died because of multiple factors, paps, speed, alcohol.

I'm
Glad the paps aren't allowed to chase people like they did with Diana, but it's hilarious he thinks him and MM get the same (ridiculous clip in the car where they think someone in a scooter has a camera ffs) ... when actually what is happening is the press agent telling things HIS way and he doesn't like it, he only wants to be portrayed his way /MM way which is making sure they're firmly on a pedestal and ivory tower, MM being the new Diana and being world leaders ... in fact they're jumped up entitled little brats with sod all knowledge or credibility

The only person who survived the crash was the one wearing a seatbelt.

That was Trevor Rees-Jones, who was Dodi's bodyguard. He was left in a coma for 10 days but is now the global head of security for AstraZeneca, according to the Daily Mail.1

I can understand H’s hate/anger but D got in a car by a man who was over the limit and she wasn’t wearing a seatbelt. It’s like a child lashing out but I do think the paps have got blood on their hands.

I do find it interesting that in all the extracts the tabloids have avoided the main theme of the book (well so far, I’m half way through) which is how revolting & damaging the U.K. press intrusion is. This part of the book is just part of a recurring theme. I think her dying surrounded by flashbulbs is pretty chilling tbh.

Whatever you think of him the issues he raises about the press are (imo) important.

The trouble with the link theory is the paps are the link that's 'shocking' (no-one wants to be hounded) but ultimately the smallest link. If they hadn't been chasing, she could have still chosen to go out with a drunk driver, that was the decision to switch hotels not the fault of the paps. The drunk driver could still easily have crashed even if no-one was around, happens every day. If you crash without a seatbelt you're very likely to hurt/kill yourself, this we already know as well. If they'd driven slowly with coats over their heads (Diana and Dodi, not the driver obv!) the paps wouldn't have had anything to flash at for long. The paps seem like the link that would have caused least change if they weren't there to be honest.

I find it interesting that Harry doesn’t blame the consumers of the press, their insatiable appetite for all things Diana - the British public.

For clarification - the 'paps' involved were not British, so blaming the British press is misplaced. 'Paps' are free-lance and as far as I am aware don't have a code of conduct.The meaning of 'paprazzo' is a freelance photographer who aggressively pursues celebrities for the purpose of taking candid photographs.

Piers Morgan has said on TV that when he was Editor of the Daily Mirror they were offered photos of Diana in the car after the accident but he refused them. He told the agent/promoter that offered them that if they sent them to anyone else he would make sure the agency would be blacklisted.

I keep thinking that, Harry doesn't seem to realise that the press only exists because other people do stuff and more people want to read about it. The press don't come up with news and then force people to read about/watch it.

He was not wearing a seatbelt.

Some media reports claimed he was wearing a seat belt and survived,[2] but investigations revealed that none of the occupants of the car were wearing their seat belts.[3]

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trevor_Rees-Jones_(bodyguard)

@EpicChaos in the book he says he went through the tunnel at 65mph which was the speed the later police reports said his mum’s car was going, not the initially reported 120mph.

Honestly, I don’t really understand many of the posters on this thread. If the paps had not been there, the chase would not have happened and Diana would not have died.

The UK inquest (jury decision) concluded that the photographers were a factor, along with Henri Paul being drunk.

So why shouldn’t Harry also think this?

I give up.

@SheilaFentiman If the paps had not been there, the chase would not have happened and Diana would not have died.

And if Di and Dodi had stayed at the hotel it wouldn't have happened either.

He thinks something is up because the tunnel was very short and straight and when he and William pressed for further inquiries, the "powers that be" refused.

He also said that in the photos of the scene, while Diana looked unconscious, she had no visible injuries.