Driver Henri Paul, attempted to quickly cross the crowded Place de la Concorde to later turn right and drive towards Champs Elyseès, but it was not possible due to the much traffic (others affirmed that the road was closed) so he chose the straight path ahead of him, the one along the Seine, a two-lanes road. For the Mercedes carrying Diana the malfunctioning brakes, the very high speed and the sudden hard braking under the tunnel were the fatal mix of ingredients which caused the onset of the most dramatic and fatal princely event of the twentieth century.
Where did Dodi and Diana want to go at midnight? The only real answer to this question lies within the following: After Henri Paul gave him the shocking news at 10:20 pm, Dodi began to receive phone calls. A first and a second time Dodi answered to his questioner saying: «We will talk about it later, in a quieter place». Immediately after, Dodi called his father Mohamed Al-Fayed in London.
Al-Fayed senior never wanted to reveal to reporters what his son told him and what was the content of the first telephone message received by Dodi at about 10:40 pm, however this is what he claimed to have told him: «You must absolutely not leave the Ritz, stay there tonight, do not go out... But he never listened».
It was obvious that during all these calls: «Dodi was very upset and barely managed to control his movements and his voice. He even tried to hide the subject of his phone conversations to Diana».
1997 Saturday, August 30, 10:45 pm: Some employees of the Ritz reported the following piece of news: «Shortly after Dodi's phone calls, Diana understood very well both the content of those phone messages and the news that Dodi received from Henri Paul at 10:20 pm. Consequently a state of restlessness and anxiety got hold of her. The Princess quickly realized she had fallen in a serious mess. Overwhelmed by the fear of a potential danger, full of concern but with strong persistence and determination, Diana became decidedly stubborn in wanting to leave immediately for London».
YES, DIANA DEMANDED TO GO BACK TO LONDON
Dodi had no choice. The private jet of Al-Fayed, the Gulfstream 4, was still in Paris, at the airport Le Bourget, the only thing needed was to alert the pilot to be ready for take-off. Presumably, Dodi was the person who phone called the pilot. It was necessary to reach the airport as soon as possible, but in complete secret and without revealing the real destination to anyone.
Dodi called François Tendil, security agent at the Ritz, on the phone telling him to bring Henri Paul, Trevor Rees-Jones e Kez Wingfield to him. Dodi then revealed to the four his plan on how to get out of the Ritz anonymously. YES, Diana had instantly forced Dodi to bring her back to London that night, it was an undeniable and very strict order. Apart from obeying, Dodi did not have any choice.
Therefore, Dodi and the four security agents decided to put in place the following deception, called âthe trick of the two carsâ:
a) The black Mercedes with darkened windows, the same car used to drive the couple around Paris that afternoon, was parked outside of the main entrance of the Ritz, in Place Vendôme. This was going to be used as a deceiving car driven by its habitual driver, Philippe Dourneau. A camouflaged couple with the appearance of Diana and Dodi was going to get on this car, and they were going to leave together with the Range Rover, driven by Kez Wingfield, backing them up.
b) Another Mercedes (very similar, but sadly with transparent windows), that was going to be parked in Rue Cambon, close to the secondary exit at the back of the Ritz, was going to be used for the secret escape. This latter car would carry the real Diana and Dodi.
The three vehicles would have to leave as one. The Mercedes carrying the true Diana and Dodi was then going to drive on the road along the Seine in the direction of the airport, while, from the main entrance of the Ritz, the other Mercedes and the Range Rover were going to go towards Dodi's apartment on Rue Arsene-Houssaye, near the Arc of Triumph, to pick up Diana's luggage and to take it to the airport Le Bourget.
In fact, the trick was in the intention of deceiving the paparazzi, reporters and onlookers making them believe that Diana and Dodi would have entered the Mercedes parked outside the main entrance. In reality it was clearly visible on the videos recorded by cameras at the Ritz (even if the images are dark) that those who got on this Mercedes were different people camouflaged, including a blonde woman.
To make things clear, this decoy Mercedes was going to take the following path: it was going to depart from Ritz, to cross Place Vendôme, towards Rue Saint Honoré and arrive at Rue de Rivoli, then it was going to turn left in the direction of Place de la Concorde, to turn right on Avenue des Champs-Elysèes in the direction of the Arc of Triumph, and finally it was going to go straight until it reached its destination, Dodi's apartment, which is located on Rue Arsene-Houssaye, on the right just before the Arc of Triumph.
On the ground floor at the back of the Ritz there is a door, this is a secondary exit that leads to the dark road of Rue Cambon. After midnight Dodi and Diana together with bodyguards: Henri Paul e Trevor Rees-Jones would exit that door. Both cars, the Mercedes carrying the real Diana and the decoy that was parked in front of the main entrance of the Ritz, were going to leave simultaneously.
The plan was very simple: the paparazzi, that were waiting for the couple to get on the Mercedes located in front of the Ritz, would follow this car instead of the one that was parked in the back. The path that the couple would follow on board of the new Mercedes with clear windows, was not going to be the same one of the Mercedes parked in front of the main entrance of the Ritz.
According to the escape plan, hoping that the two vehicles would not come across each other, the actual path of the Mercedes carrying the real Diana and Dodi was going to be the following: to start from Rue Cambon, to cross Rue Saint Honorè, to arrive at Rue de Rivoli, then on Rue Royale to turn left towards Place de la Concorde, to go straight at the traffic lights and then to turn slightly on the left to take the road Along the Seine (La Seine) on Cours la Reine, adjacent Cours Albert 1er, then to pass the Alma tunnel and to continue on the Avenue de New York and the Avenue du Prèsident Kennedy, and next to enter the Avenue de Versaille in order to reach the entrance of the Périphérique (Périph') of Porte de St-Cloud (the ring road outside the city). At this point on the highway it was going to take the left towards Quai dâIssy and Port dâIvry up to Port de la Villette. To later exit the Périphérique and merge on Avenue J. Jaurès driving up to Le Bourget airport.
1997 Saturday, August 30, 11:00 pm: Henri Paul calls Etoile Limousine Park to order another Mercedes dark and armoured, this car has to be delivered immediately and to be parked on the street on Rue Cambon, which is located on the back of the Hotel. However, Dodi and Henri Paul certainly make the following huge mistake: they should have not chosen a Mercedes identical to the car they used that afternoon; it would have been better to use a different model, with tinted windows in any case, not to drag any attention to themselves. Not taking into account this important detail, they order a black Mercedes, the same colour of the decoy car that was parked outside the main entrance of the Ritz (identical to the one they used that afternoon with plate: 405 JVJ75).
Furthermore, this backup Mercedes Limousine, with clear windows, was rented many times by the Hotel Ritz and it is the same car that was stolen to a driver several months before. After it was recovered, it was placed for a time in the Parisian parking lot (garage) of Saint-Ouen, at the moment of the call the car had already been in the Etoile Limousine Park of Paris for two months. The deadly car of the crash is therefore a Mercedes Benz, Limousine, 600 series, type Sedan, 12 cylinders, model S-280, colour black, armoured, with clear windows and the plate: 688 LTV 75 (Henri Paul had never driven it).
1997 Saturday, August 30, 11:42 pm: Until