August 31, 1997: Diana, Princess of Wales, Is Killed

August 31, 1997: I woke up in the middle of the night, turned on the TV, and found out that Princess Diana had been in a car crash in Paris. Her post-Prince Charles boyfriend, Dodi al-Fayed, had already been announced as dead. The newscasters didn’t reveal her condition, and may not have known it. But I had a feeling she wouldn’t make it. And she didn’t. She was 36.

Diana Frances Spencer was born on July 1, 1961, in Sandringham, Norfolk, England, not far from one of the royal family's retreat homes. The Spencers and the Windsors had known each other for decades, and it wasn't a total surprise to "royal-watchers" when, at 19, Diana, then a teacher, was engaged to Charles, Prince of Wales, then 31. They married on July 29, 1981, in a wedding ceremony televised around the world. Prince William was born the following year; Prince Harry, 2 years after that.

But, as she put it, there were 3 people in the marriage. Prince Charles' true love was Lady Camilla Parker-Bowles, who had married someone else in 1973. Charles and Camilla ended up cheating on their respective spouses, with each other. In retaliation, Diana developed her own infidelities, and left Charles in 1992. The divorce was finalized on August 28, 1996.

Diana kept up her charity work, which made her beloved all over the world. She worked with India-based nun and Nobel Peace Prize winner Mother Teresa, who died just a week after Diana did. One of Diana's last public appearances was in Miami, at the funeral for fashion designer Gianni Versace, whose designs she had worn. She was seen comforting singer Elton John, a close friend of Versace's.

But the media wouldn't leave her alone. Near midnight on August 30, 1997, Diana and Dodi left the Hotel Ritz Paris, along with bodyguard Trevor Rees-Jones, in a Mercedes-Benz S280 sedan driven by Henri Paul, the hotel's acting security manager. Paparazzi chased them, and Paul tried to lose them in the Pont de l'Alma Tunnel, and crashed at 12:23 AM, August 31, Paris time. (11:23 PM, August 30, London time; 6:23 PM, August 30, U.S. East Coast time.)

An off-duty doctor arrived on the scene, and heard Diana say some fitting last words: "Leave me alone." She was pronounced dead at the hospital at 3:00 AM. (2 AM in London, 9 PM in New York.) Rees-Jones was the only person in the car to survive the crash, though he sustained a head injury.

Paul was later found to have a blood-alcohol content 3.5 times France's legal limit. As a result, the French criminal justice system brought no charges against anyone. But most people, including Diana's brother, Charles, the 9th Earl Spencer, blamed the paparazzi chasing the Mercedes. One witness saw one of the photographers get out of his car, and beat the photographer. (There are also those who believe the royal family, angry with Diana's public actions, had her killed, but this is ridiculous.)

The outpouring of grief in Britain was staggering. Not since John Lennon had there been so much grief over the death of a single person. There were piles of flowers outside Buckingham Palace, the royal residence, and Kensington Palace, where Diana had lived with Charles, and still lived after the divorce.

Queen Elizabeth II, and Princes Charles, William and Harry were at another royal home, Balmoral Castle in Aberdeenshire, Scotland at the time of the crash, and returned to London. On the following Thursday, 2 days before the funeral at Westminster Abbey, Charles, William and Harry walked toward the main gate at Buckingham Palace to greet some mourners.

Charles looked like he'd rather be doing anything else. A woman called out, "William, I'm so sorry!" The would-be future King, only 15 years old, walked over, reached through the gate, took her hand in his, managed a smile, and said, "Thank you very much." William looked more like a King in those 5 seconds than Charles had in his 48 years.

The Queen insisted upon proper royal protocol for the arrangements, which was seen by the public as being too rigid, and insufficiently compassionate. She initially refused to lower the royal standard to half-staff. Diana was the most popular woman in the world, more so than the Queen, and the Queen finally assented to lowering the standard, and giving a televised speech on the Friday, the day before the funeral. It may be the only time in her 70-year reign that she had to publicly eat crow.

The funeral the next day was watched by more people than watched the wedding. Elton John sang "Candle In the Wind," which he and Bernie Taupin had written in 1973 in memory of Marilyn Monroe, with new lyrics. It remains the only time he has ever sung the Diana version in public, and the record shot to Number 1 all over the world, becoming the biggest-selling single of all time.

Diana was buried on an island in the middle of a lake called The Oval, on the grounds of Althorp, the Spencer family home in Northamptonshire, England, about 75 miles northwest of London.

*

August 31, 1997 was a Sunday. These Major League Baseball games were played that day:

* The New York Yankees beat the Montreal Expos, 3-2 at Yankee Stadium. Before the game, they honored Don Mattingly with a Plaque in Monument Park, and the retirement of his Number 23. Bernie Williams hit a home run, in support of Andy Pettitte. Derek Jeter went 0-for-3, but did draw a walk.

* The New York Mets beat the Baltimore Orioles, 4-1 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. Bernard Gilkey and Butch Huskey hit home runs. Cal Ripken went 0-for-4.

* The Atlanta Braves beat the Boston Red Sox, 7-3 at Fenway Park in Boston.

* The Florida Marlins beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 8-3 at the SkyDome (now the Rogers Centre) in Toronto.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Chicago Cubs, 9-5 at Jacobs Field (now Progressive Field) in Cleveland.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 2-1 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Houston Astros, 3-1 at the new Comiskey Park in Chicago.

* The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 3-2 at Milwaukee County Stadium.

* The Minnesota Twins beat the Cincinnati Reds, 8-6 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat their cross-State rivals, the Kansas City Royals, 5-4 at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City. Mark McGwire did not play.

* The Colorado Rockies beat the Oakland Athletics, 10-4 at Coors Field in Denver.

* The San Diego Padres beat the Texas Rangers, 5-3 at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego.

* The Seattle Mariners beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 3-1 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. Ken Griffey Jr. hit his 44th home run of the season. Dan Wilson singled home the winning run in the top of the 10th inning.

* And the Anaheim Angels beat the San Francisco Giants, 7-4 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. Barry Bonds went 0-for-3 with a walk.

It was also the opening weekend of a new NFL season:

* The New York Giants beat the Philadelphia Eagles, 31-17 at Giants Stadium in the Meadowlands.

* The New York Jets beat the Seattle Seahawks, 41-3 at the Kingdome in Seattle.

* The New England Patriots beat the San Diego Chargers, 41-7 at Foxboro Stadium in the Boston suburb of Foxborough, Massachusetts.

* The Jacksonville Jaguars beat the Baltimore Ravens, 28-27 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore.

* The Washington Redskins beat the Carolina Panthers, 24-10 in the 1st regular-season game at Jack Kent Cooke Stadium (now Commanders Field) in the Washington suburb of Landover, Maryland.

* The Tampa Bay Buccaneers beat the San Francisco 49ers, 13-6 at Tampa Stadium.

* The Miami Dolphins beat the Indianapolis Colts, 16-10 at Joe Robbie Stadium (now Hard Rock Stadium) in Miami Gardens, Florida.

* The St. Louis Rams beat the New Orleans Saints, 38-24 at the Trans World Dome (now The Dome at America's Center) in St. Louis.

* The Minnesota Vikings beat the Buffalo Bills, 34-13 at Ralph Wilson Stadium in the Buffalo suburb of Orchard Park, New York.

* The Dallas Cowboys beat the Pittsburgh Steelers, 37-7 at Three River Stadium in Pittsburgh.

* The Cincinnati Bengals beat the Arizona Cardinals, 24-21 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati.

* The Detroit Lions beat the Atlanta Falcons, 28-17 at the Silverdome in the Detroit suburb of Pontiac, Michigan.

* The Tennessee Oilers beat the Oakland Raiders, 24-21 at the Liberty Bowl (now Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium) in Memphis.

* The Denver Broncos beat the Kansas City Chiefs, 19-3 at Mile High Stadium in Denver.

* And, the next day on ABC Monday Night Football, the Green Bay Packers beat their arch-rivals, the Chicago Bears, 38-24 at Soldier Field in Chicago.