"I thought she’d live": The fireman who tried to rescue Princess Diana

It's been almost 30 years since the death of the Princess Diana in 1997 yet it feels fresh to most royal admirers. Partly because her legacy lives on through her sons and partly because she was in a true sense the 'people’s Princess'.

This was made evident from a recent auction that sold Princess Diana’s first job application for over £8,000.

The sad incident left a huge impact on many people including her brother Charles Spencer. Over the years, many explanations and theories have come forward for Princess Diana’s untimely death on the Alma Bridge in Paris. However, Xavier Gourmelon, a firefighter, has revealed what the true accident was really like.

Details of Princess Diana’s car crash that took her life

Xavier Gourmelon was one of the first ones on the scene and was also in charge of the operation. According to LadBible, Diana had been travelling in a car with her boyfriend Dodi Al-Fayed on the 31 August in Paris. Al-Fayed’s father also shared a close relationship with the Princess. The pair were accompanied by their driver Henri Paul and Al-Fayed’s bodyguard Trevor Rees-Jones.

It is understood that the Princess died following a vacation with her sons in St. Tropez. Prince William and Harry had gone back to the UK while Diana was still in France enjoying a vacation with Al-Fayed. The couple were staying in a $2,000-a-night suite in the Ritz and had dinner at the hotel’s restaurant on the night of the accident. Reportedly, they were informed that nearly 30 photographers were waiting outside the hotel to picture Diana in her blossoming romance with Al-Fayed.

As such the two decided to go to Al Fayed's apartment on the Champs Elysee instead of staying at the hotel. In an attempt to evade the photographers who had been chasing the princess’ car, their driver Paul turned into a tunnel that ran next to the Seine River. Their car was at a speed of 121 mph and Paul quickly lost control of the vehicle that crashed into a column in the underpass. An onlooker shared with People Magazine that the accident was a ‘huge, violent, terrifying’ crash.

The vehicle itself, a black Mercedes-Benz S280, later became a focal point of the investigation. Investigations revealed that the car was far from being in peak condition. It had previously been stolen and involved in a major crash that resulted in it being declared a total loss or "scrap." Despite this, it was repaired and put back into service for the Ritz's high-profile guests. Expert testimonies later suggested that the car was inherently unstable at high speeds, making the 121 mph dash through the narrow tunnel an even more perilous gamble than the passengers realized.

The publication also reported that Al-Fayed and driver Paul died on the spot, only Al-Fayed’s bodyguard survived the car crash as he was the only one wearing a seat belt. Paul, who was an employee of the Ritz at the time, was later found to be inebriated. Meanwhile, Princess Diana was unconscious but briefly regained consciousness to say her last words.

Trevor Rees-Jones, the private security expert tasked with protecting the couple, suffered catastrophic injuries, including the complete crushing of his facial structure. Surgeons famously used 150 titanium parts to reconstruct his face using old photographs as a guide. Despite surviving the impact that killed everyone else in the vehicle, Rees-Jones has always maintained that he has virtually no memory of the moments leading up to the crash. This profound "traumatic amnesia" has left a permanent gap in the official record, as the only living witness remains unable to recount the final seconds inside the Mercedes.

Princess Diana’s last words

According to Gourmelon, when he arrived at the scene Princess Diana regained consciousness just for enough seconds to say her last words. Bound by professional confidentiality, the fireman was unable to release a statement on the night of the accident. After no longer being in the service, the firefighter revealed:

She looked at me and said, ‘Oh my God, Oh my God, what’s happened?’

Describing the incident, he added:

She was still breathing […] She moved very slightly. I knew straight away that she was still alive. I held her hand and assured her that I was there to help her and that the paramedics would be there soon.

The princess fell into a coma again. When doctors arrived at the scene they realised that she was in cardiac arrest and gave her a CPR. She was too weak and in shock. Gourmelon shared:

I gave her CPR and she started to breathe again. Honestly, I was convinced that she was alive when I was trying to save her. When she went in the ambulance, I seriously thought that I had done what was necessary to save her.

Hours later the princess was pronounced dead at 4 AM on August 31, 1997, at Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital in Paris.

Upon her arrival at the Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital, a team of France's top surgeons and anaesthetists began a desperate, two-hour battle to save the Princess. Internal X-rays revealed that the impact had caused a rare and devastating tear in her left pulmonary vein. Despite emergency surgery to internalize the bleeding and repeated internal and external cardiac massages, her heart refused to restart. The medical staff worked in a state of high tension, aware that the eyes of the world were metaphorically fixed on their operating theater, until it became clear that the internal damage was simply too extensive to overcome.

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Sources Used

Lad Bible: Princess Diana’s tragic final words revealed to the public by firefighter on scene

People Magazine: Princess Diana’s tragic final words revealed to the public by firefighter on scene