JUSTICE FOR DIANA
There are calls for another enquiry after shocking new evidence reveals how she was really killed
It has been a mystery that has fascinated the world for the past 22 years, spawning dozens of conspiracy theories, leaving a dark shadow over the royal family and forever tarnishing unfaithful Prince Charles.
Princess Diana herself predicted that she would die in a car accident orchestrated by her ex-husband after their toxic marriage disintegrated because of his obsessive love for his mistress Camilla, who he married after Diana’s death.
But new evidence proves beyond any doubt what really happened in that Paris tunnel on the night of August 31, 1997, when the People’s Princess and her
Egyptian lover Dodi Fayed died after their Mercedes sedan smashed into a pillar at high speed.
The explosive findings contained in a new book, Diana: Case Solved, may lead to a new enquiry into her tragic death and an investigation as to why French and British authorities – together with the royal family – went to such lengths to cover up the circumstances surrounding her death.
“We interviewed new witnesses who saw the crash and its immediate aftermath,” explains journalist Dylan Howard, who co-wrote the book with respected former Victorian homicide detective Colin Mclaren (inset).
THE SILENT WITNESS
“And crucially unearth the one man who knows for sure what happened – and who for 22 years has been ordered to remain silent. He was the keeper of the world’s biggest secret of all. From the outset, the French police made astonishing shing errors and misjudgements.”
The new witness is French-vietnamese national Le Van Thanh, who claimed he was working security at the time of the crash, but was actually seen leaving the scene in his white Fiat Uno, o, which was badly damaged d when it collided with
Dianas Diana’s Mercedes.
Le Van, 54, was arrested in November 1997 and questioned for six hours. He was released after French police claimed he had an alibi, but earlier this year the father-of-two broke his 22-year silence to change his story – completely p y obliterating g the official version of what happened that night.
French authorities have always maintained the crash happened because driver Henri Paul was drunk and lost control of the Mercedes after he was blinded by the flash of a camera from one of the pack of paparazzi photographers chasing Diana and Dodi.
But the new evidence, backed up by forensic and crime scene experts, along with the testimony from witnesses the police failed to find at the time, show that this version is completely wrong and part of an official cover-up.
THE OTHER VEHICLE
Colin says the new evidence he has gathered proves that Le Van’s car clipped Diana’s Mercedes as he slowly entered the tunnel from a merging lane, after Henri braked suddenly – because of the flash of a police speed camera.
“A fragment of plastic found by police came from a Fiat Uno and Diana’s Mercedes was found to have a smear of white paint on it,” he says, adding that Le Van confirmed his brother painted his damaged white Fiat red just days after the accident.
“An exhaustive database search of over 12,000 Fiats never found the elusive car. Despite calls to the public, no person ever came forward as the driver.”
Colin and Dylan do not completely discount the theory that a mysterious lone motorcyclist, who has never been found but was seen in the tunnel at the time, could also have contributed to the shocking series of events in the tunnel that night.
The experts, who took a fresh look at all the old evidence together with their new discoveries, claim that Henri was travelling at around 190km/h – a much higher speed than previously thought – which caused the Mercedes to skid before it became airborne and smashed into the pillar.
“The Mercedes S280 sedan carrying the world’s most famous woman could have only become airborne after hitting a second car and leaving the road surface – and staying airborne for 85 feet [26 metres],” says Colin. “The Mercedes had clearly reached an enormous speed on its approach path.”
Colin has little doubt that the driver of the white Fiat Uno that police tried to find at the time of the tragedy is Le Van Than, who admits that when he considered changing his story, he was warned that he could be jailed.
“His own sister stepped forward and told him not to sign the fresh statement, as he could be prosecuted and sent to jail for five years as he ‘refused to stop and
‘Diana’s Mercedes could have only become airborne after hitting a second car’
help injured people at the scene of an accident’,” they claim.
Their major investigation concludes that while many important people and organisations had motives to kill Diana, Le Van was not part of a plot and that her death was caused by a
“simple and routine car accident” and the fact she wasn’t wearing a seatbelt. Diana: Case Solved:
The Definitive Account That Proves What Really Happened by Dylan Howard with Colin Mclaren (Skyhorse Publishing) is out September 17.