Inside the Surreal Final Days of Princess Diana's Life

How The Crown's Elizabeth Debicki Embodied Princess Diana

The breakdown of Princess Diana and then-Prince Charles' marriage—including the divorcement neither initially wanted but which Queen Elizabeth II quietly insisted they get—wasn't an evident precursor to the most tragic of outcomes.

In hindsight, of course, the reddish lights were flashing and the informing sirens blaring.

The sixth and last play of The Crown encompassed Diana's fate and heads into the 2024 Emmys connected Sept. 15 with 18 nominations, including Best Drama Series and a 2nd Outstanding Supporting Actress motion for Elizabeth Debicki.

In existent life, contempt her persistent feeling that her in-laws had thrown her retired with yesterday's tabloids, the satellite looked to beryllium Diana's oyster aft her divorce. She inactive had a residence astatine Kensington Palace, the rubric of Princess of Wales, a $21 cardinal colony (by today's exchange) and, much important than anything, sons Prince William and Prince Harry.

Only 36 erstwhile she died connected Aug. 31, 1997, it's been intolerable to presumption the past months of Diana's beingness done immoderate different prism. Everything seems tragic, nary substance however blessed she whitethorn person been successful the moment.

Her divorcement from Charles—hastened successful nary tiny portion by that explosive BBC interview three years aft they separated—was finalized Aug. 28, 1996.

That December, the foundation United Cerebral Palsy honored Diana arsenic Humanitarian of the Year astatine a ceremonial successful New York. The pursuing month, she took her celebrated locomotion done a minefield successful Angola connected behalf of the Halo Trust to draw attraction to the devastation caused by landmines successful war-torn regions.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair and woman Cherie Blair hosted her astatine the P.M.'s authoritative state estate, Chequers, successful May 1997, to sermon imaginable outreach collaborations. 

Diana hoped to parlay her already sizable level into an ambassadorship, adjacent if an unofficial one. At the extremity of May, she went to Pakistan to fundraise for a infirmary built by cricket prima (and aboriginal Pakistani premier minister) Imran Khan. In June, her engagements included gathering the dancers aft a show of Swan Lake at Royal Albert Hall and a gathering with then-first woman Hillary Clinton at the White House, a fewer days before she bid her glittering decorator ensembles farewell astatine the Christie's auction successful New York.

"Diana Reborn" was the rubric of the July 1997 Vanity Fair screen story that was meant to service arsenic a symbolic caller start.  

"There is simply a benignant of serenity," decorator Gianni Versace told the publication. "I had a fitting with her past week for caller suits and covering for spring, and she is truthful serene. It is simply a infinitesimal successful her life, I think, erstwhile she's recovered herself—the mode she wants to live."

So, Diana took Mohamed up connected his longstanding invitation to big her, William and Harry astatine his abrogation home in Saint-Tropez.

Dodi, Mohamed's eldest son, showed up connected July 14, a fewer days into the princess' stay, docking his boat near his father's yacht, the Jonikal. The 42-year-old movie shaper was accompanied by his model fiancée Kelly Fisher, though Dodi would later contradict that they were engaged.

Kelly near for enactment connected July 18 and Dodi started spending much clip with Diana and her sons, renting retired a nightclub truthful they could creation successful bid and taking the trio to an amusement park. 

Diana called it the "best vacation of my life," per Morton. After dropping the boys backmost home, she jetted to Milan to be the July 22 ceremonial for Versace, who was murdered July 15 connected the beforehand steps of his Miami Beach mansion. 

How overmuch clip did Dodi Fayed and Princess Diana really walk together?

After that bittersweet sojourn, Dodi picked Diana up successful London and they helicoptered to Paris, wherever they spent the play astatine the Ritz Hotel, different spot owned by Dodi's father.

That managed to beryllium rather private, with Ritz security enlisted to support photographers disconnected the scent, but on July 31 the brace embarked connected a six-day Mediterranean cruise aboard Mohamed's yacht, wherever the long-lens shots of the brace canoodling connected platform went 1997-era viral.

Dodi's scorned ex Kelly held a press conference successful Beverly Hills connected Aug. 13 to announce that she was suing him for breach of contract, alleging he'd offered her a six-figure sum to enactment her modeling vocation speech truthful she could absorption connected being with him full-time.

Meanwhile, British tabloids were ablaze with reports that Dodi—whom The Diana Chronicles author Tina Brown called a "haphazard playboy"—was rather superior astir Diana and she, successful turn, was in love.

What Diana was really doing was taking the Harrods pitchy to Bosnia, wherever she spent Aug. 9 and 10 meeting with landmine victims (the Ottawa Treaty banning landmines, which she championed, was signed successful December 1997).

On Aug. 15, with paparazzi successful blistery pursuit, she headed to the Greek isles with Tiffany & Co. president Rosa Monckton for a long-scheduled holiday, portion Dodi went backmost to Los Angeles to effort to creaseless things implicit with Kelly. (She dropped her lawsuit aft his death.)

Reflecting connected her past abrogation with Diana, Rosa wrote successful the Daily Telegraph, "She had talked often to maine astir the intrusion of the press, astir what it is similar to beryllium hounded by the paparazzi and to person to combat for each 2nd of her privacy."

After concisely reuniting successful London, Dodi and Diana took disconnected again for the South of France on Aug. 21.

Though Mohamed—who died successful August astatine 94—put the Repossi ringing connected show astatine Harrods arsenic portion of a shrine to Dodi and Diana that stayed up for years arsenic a testament to the large emotion helium insisted they shared, adjacent helium didn't cognize for definite if his lad had really popped the question.

Or, if helium did, whether the princess had said yes. The Crown leans into the ambiguity of it all, imagining that Dodi (Khalid Abdalla) started to suggest successful a suite astatine the Ritz but Diana rapidly chopped him off, and successful the end she had tenderly convinced him to finally level with his overbearing father.

Which Dodi planned to do...after he'd seen Diana disconnected the adjacent morning.

Instead, soon aft midnight connected Aug. 31, they headed downstairs and lingered for astir 7 minutes adjacent the rear entranceway of the Ritz portion staffers created a diversion retired beforehand to propulsion the horde of paparazzi disconnected the scent.

The couple climbed into the back of a Mercedes being driven by (as consequent investigations and inquests concluded) the intoxicated head of information astatine the Ritz, Henri Paul, who was unexpectedly tasked with taking them backmost to Dodi's apartment. Bodyguard Trevor Rees-Jones got into the beforehand rider seat.

Photographers who weren't fooled by the ruse took disconnected aft the Mercedes by car and connected motorbikes. Henri sped into the Pont de l'Alma passageway and, seconds later, the Mercedes smashed into a pillar. Trevor was the lone survivor. The operator and Dodi died astatine the scene, while Diana was taken to Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital. After life-saving efforts failed, doctors pronounced her dormant astatine 3 a.m.

The satellite recovered retired 3 hours later.

When the queen and Charles got the telephone astatine Balmoral successful the mediate of the night, he decided to fto William and Harry sleep. He'd archer the boys successful the morning.