Mohamed al Fayed’s claims

Dodi al Fayed’s father, Mohamed al Fayed, has publicly stated his belief that the deaths of his son and Diana were part of a conspiracy. In a 1998 interview with The Mirror, he said: “I believe in my heart 99.9% that it was not an accident.” He alleged the crash had been orchestrated by Prince Philip and carried out by MI6 to prevent Diana from marrying his son, who was Muslim.

Due to the serious nature of these claims and their implications in the UK, a formal investigation was launched.

Operation Paget: The official inquiry

In January 2004, Operation Paget was created to investigate the conspiracy theories surrounding Diana’s death. Led by the royal coroner Michael Burgess, the inquiry lasted three years and cost millions. It concluded that the crash—which killed Diana, Dodi, and driver Henri Paul—was the result of grossly negligent driving.

David Douglas, one of the investigators, told ITV’s Good Morning Britain: “It’s my absolute total belief it was a terrible, tragic accident.”

As part of the inquiry, Prince Charles was interviewed in 2005. Former police commissioner Sir John Stevens questioned him about a note Diana had written in 1995, where she claimed: “My husband is planning ‘an accident’ in my car, brake failure and serious head injury… to make the path clear for him to marry.”

Diana believed Charles wanted to wed Tiggy Legge-Bourke, and referred to Camilla as a decoy. Stevens said Charles was fully cooperative and believed he had no knowledge of the note’s intent.

Final conclusions

In October 2007, the 871-page Operation Paget report was released, along with over 600 pieces of evidence. It reaffirmed that Diana’s death was accidental and discredited the major conspiracy theories, including rumors that Diana was pregnant or being watched by MI6.

The report confirmed Henri Paul was intoxicated and driving at high speed, and that Diana and Dodi were not wearing seatbelts. These conclusions were later supported by the coroner’s inquest, which ruled the deaths were due to “grossly negligent driving.”