The final words of Princess Diana have been disclosed by a firefighter who was at her side after the devastating car crash that claimed her life.
The world was left in mourning when Princess Diana passed away 28 years ago.
On August 31, 1997, Diana, aged 36, along with her companion Dodi Fayed, were attempting to evade paparazzi in Paris when their vehicle crashed. Reports indicate that the driver, Henri Paul, lost control at the Pont de l’Alma underpass, colliding with another car before veering into a column at approximately 65 mph.
This tragic incident resulted in the deaths of Diana, Dodi, and the driver, Henri. The sole survivor was Dodi’s bodyguard, Trevor Rees-Jones.
First responders quickly arrived at the site of the crash, with firefighter Xavier Gourmelon among the initial rescuers.
Gourmelon noted that he did not recognize Diana immediately but described the ‘blonde woman’ in the backseat as being conscious when he reached the car.
According to the firefighter, he held Diana’s hand and attempted to comfort her while they awaited her removal from the vehicle. It was then that she uttered four words that would be her last.
“My God, what’s happened?” she asked just before succumbing to cardiac arrest.
Diana was later declared dead at Pitie-Salpetriere hospital in Paris. Gourmelon recounted the events of that night in an interview with The Sun.
“I massaged her heart and a few seconds later she started breathing again. It was a relief of course because, as a first responder, you want to save lives – and that’s what I thought I had done,” he shared with the publication.
“To be honest, I thought she would live. As far as I knew when she was in the ambulance she was alive and I expected her to live. But I found out later she had died in hospital. It was very upsetting. I know now that there were serious internal injuries, but the whole episode is still very much in my mind,” he added.
“The memory of that night will stay with me forever. I had no idea then that it was Princess Diana. It was only when she had been put into the ambulance that one of the paramedics told me it was her.”
The announcement of Diana’s death led to widespread mourning. Thousands gathered at Kensington Palace to honor her memory, and her funeral, broadcasted globally, was viewed by an estimated 2.5 billion people.