In her hands Diana had a photo of her sons - and Mother Theresa's rosary beads: Minute by shattering minute, the day that dawned with news of unimaginable horror. From Princess Diana's tragic death in a Paris car crash to her moving funeral service at Westminster Abbey, it was a week that shocked not only Britain but the rest of the world. In a poignant and powerful series to mark the 20th anniversary, Jonathan Mayo reconstructs those seismic events though the eyes of royals, politicians, Diana's family and friends and the devastated public... Sunday, August 31, 3.15am, UK time/4.15am, Paris and Cape Town In South Africa, Charles Spencer is on the phone to his sister, Jane, whose husband, Sir Robert Fellowes, is the Queen’s Private Secretary. At Balmoral, Prince Charles can hear Sir Robert on another line in the background suddenly say, ‘Oh, no …’ Charles says to Stephen Lamport, his Private Secretary: ‘They’re all going to blame me, aren’t they? … The world’s going to go completely mad, isn’t it? We’re going to see a reaction we’ve never seen before. It could destroy everything. It could destroy the monarchy.’ ‘Yes, sir, I think it could,’ Lamport replies. ‘It’s going to be very difficult for your mother, sir. She’s going to have to do things she may not want to do, or feel comfortable doing, but if she doesn’t do them, then that’s the end of it.’ Operation Overlord, the official plan to bring back the body of a member of the Royal Family from abroad, swings into action. 3.20am On the Scottish island of Seil, Diana’s mother, Frances Shand Kydd has been told that her daughter is dead. She has also been told not to tell anyone else until the news has been officially announced. Distraught at not being able even to call a friend for support, Frances is yelling at the television news: ‘Come on! Come on! Tell the world!’ The Queen writes a note for the Queen Mother to be given to her when she wakes up, telling her of Diana’s death. 3.30am/4.30am (Paris) BBC Royal Correspondent Jennie Bond has found a taxi firm to drive her the 250 miles from her home in Devon to Television Centre in West London. Her cab has two drivers so they can take turns. They know how important it is for Jennie to get there quickly, so they have taken the taxi sign off the roof to reduce wind resistance. On the back seat, Jennie has her ear pressed to a portable radio. On Seil, now she knows for certain that her daughter is dead, Frances Shand Kydd is unpacking the suitcase that she’d earlier got ready so that she could visit Diana in hospital. The surgery on Dodi’s bodyguard, Trevor Rees-Jones — who was in the front seat of the crashed car — continues at the Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital. One of France’s best facial surgeons, Dr Luc Chikhani, is closing the wounds, wiring Rees-Jones’s jawbone temporarily back in place and taking casts of his teeth. 4.41am/5.41am (Paris) The Press Association issues a newsflash: ‘Diana, Princess of Wales has died, according to British sources, the Press Association learned this morning.’ 4.55am/5.55am (Paris) In a hospital conference room, British Ambassador Sir Michael Jay announces to the waiting Press that Diana has died. Mohamed Al Fayed’s bodyguard Kez Wingfield and Ritz chauffeur Phillippe Dourneau are driving out to Le Bourget airport to collect their boss. The helicopter lands just as they arrive. Wingfield’s mobile rings. It’s the British Embassy telling him that Diana is dead. Al Fayed walks towards him, flanked by two bodyguards. Wingfield does something he’s never done before and puts his arm round his boss. ‘I’m sorry for your loss, sir, but I have some more bad news for you …’ 5am/6am (Paris) Diana’s secretary, Jackie Allen, has recently arrived at Kensington Palace and is now consoling the Princess’s butler, Paul Burrell. ‘Paul, you are going to have to be strong. I’m sorry to have to tell you this, but the Princess has died.’ They both start to cry. An autopsy has been performed on Diana and her body taken to a bed in a first-floor room in Pitié-Salpêtrière, a white cotton sheet placed up to her neck. Mohamed Al Fayed is being driven into Paris by Phillippe Dourneau and Kez Wingfield. Suddenly Al Fayed shouts: ‘I hope the British government is satisfied now!’ A shocked Wingfield replies: ‘Nobody could have wished this, Sir.’ Dourneau tells his boss that there’s a rumour at the Ritz that Henri Paul, who was driving Diana and Dodi, had been drinking. 5.05am On BBC One, Martyn Lewis, wearing a plain black tie, says solemnly: ‘This is BBC Television from London. Diana, Princess of Wales, has died after a car crash in Paris. The French government announced her death #In #her #hands #Diana #had #a #photo #of #her #sons #- #and #Mother #Theresa's #rosary #beads: #Minute #by #shattering #minute, #the #day #that #dawned #with #news #of #unimaginable #horror

• published: 21 Aug 2017
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