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Princess Diana’s former bodyguard, Trevor Rees-Jones — the sole survivor of the horrific car crash that killed Diana, her partner Dodi Fayed, and their driver — has revealed that he remains deeply haunted by the tragedy, even nearly three decades later.
Sources close to the royal household claim that while Rees-Jones has carried the burden of guilt for years, King Charles allegedly harbors his own complicated emotions about the night Diana died — with insiders suggesting he believes Rees-Jones bears some responsibility for the devastating loss of his former wife.
On August 31, 1997, Trevor Rees-Jones—a former soldier serving as a bodyguard for Harrods owner Mohamed al-Fayed—was tasked with protecting Princess Diana, 36, and al-Fayed’s son, Dodi, 42.
That night, shortly after departing the Ritz Hotel in Paris, their driver, Henri Paul, lost control of the Mercedes-Benz while attempting to outrun paparazzi. The vehicle struck a pillar inside the Pont de l’Alma tunnel, killing Diana, Dodi, and Paul. Rees-Jones, though severely injured, was the sole survivor of the devastating crash.
Rees-Jones spent five weeks hospitalized with critical brain and chest injuries, requiring surgeons to reconstruct his face using 150 pieces of titanium and reference photos.
During a 2008 inquest into the crash, he recounted: “I remember hearing someone moaning, and the name Dodi was said, but I don’t know who said it. If no one else was there but us, I can only conclude it was Princess Diana, as it was a female voice.”
Still, Rees-Jones cast doubt on his recollection, admitting: “These memories are vague, and I myself question them—but I mention them because they keep resurfacing.”
The former paratrooper also admitted he’s tormented by regret, saying he “goes mad thinking about ‘if onlys.’”
Rees-Jones recalled his unease with Dodi’s plan to have the group’s two earlier vehicles leave from the front of the Ritz Hotel as decoys for the paparazzi, while Ritz security chief Henri Paul would personally drive Dodi and Princess Diana in a hotel limousine departing from the back.
“I wasn’t happy, as it meant Dodi would be splitting the security officers,” he said. “But I went along with it.”
Rees-Jones also stated he had no idea the driver, Henri Paul, had been drinking before taking the wheel.
“A mistake was made by Henri Paul to get behind the wheel of the car when he knew that he had been drinking,” he said. “Not declaring to either us or to Dodi that he wasn’t fit to drive.”
As for the speed of the vehicle, Rees-Jones admitted, “I don’t know what speed the vehicle was going because I don’t remember. But if Henri Paul had been driving so fast that it was a security risk, that his driving was— that he couldn’t control the car, that it was going too fast— then I would like to think that I would have said, ‘Slow down.’”
He further reflected on his deep sense of “moral responsibility” in his 2000 memoir, The Bodyguard’s Story: Diana, The Crash and The Sole Survivor.
“I was paid to look after Dodi and his guest, and they died on my shift,” Rees-Jones wrote. “I’ve got this hanging over me for the rest of my life. A couple of times I felt if I had died instead of them, it would have been much easier.”
Meanwhile, a palace insider claimed that King Charles also carries lingering guilt over Diana’s death and the breakdown of their marriage.
“Charles will never take outright responsibility for Diana’s death — but he knows how miserable she was over his longtime affair with Camilla,” the source said. “That unhappiness sent her running into Dodi’s arms — and into her grave.”
The courtier added: “He regrets that William and Harry will never truly forgive him for the pain he and Camilla caused their mother. That’s why the monarch issued a deathbed ultimatum — telling William that if he protects Camilla’s position after inheriting the throne, he’ll have the authority to exile Harry and Meghan for undermining the royal family.”
