The mysterious Fiat Uno: How investigators were stumped by vanishing car involved in fatal Princess Diana crash
PARIS, FRANCE: A white Fiat Uno that was allegedly involved in Princess Diana's car crash is nowhere to be found, causing distress among investigators. Diana was killed in a car accident on August 31, 1997, in Paris at the age of 36. Ever since the event, her death has been the subject of several conspiracy theories. In the 'Investigating Diana: Death In Paris' documentary on Channel 4, investigators from the 1997 French Brigade Criminelle claim that the driver of Diana's car, a black Mercedes, was responsible for the car crash.
The leader of the Brigade Criminelle, Martine Monteil, said in the documentary, "The whole of the world has struggled to accept that the Princess of Wales died in a mundane accident. I have frustration about the Fiat Uno because I like a well-finished business. For sure, it’s out there. Unfortunately we don’t have it. But you know the driver of the Fiat Uno, he’s not the real culprit. He’s driving along quietly and then a Mercedes arrives at high speed and bumps into him. The responsibility remains with the Mercedes."
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After leaving the Ritz Hotel in Paris, photographers started to follow Diana's car, which she was traveling in with her lover, Dodi Al Fayed. The car crashed inside the Pont de l'Alma tunnel. Henri Paul, the driver, Fayed, 41, and Diana all died at the scene. Trevor Rees-Jones, Diana's security guy, survived. The white Fiat Uno with an operator who was fixated on his mirrors was seen leaving the tunnel by a pair who were there, according to investigators. The pair claimed that the automobile had a guy with brown complexion, short hair, and a dog with a collar on. The Mercedes' tail light was shattered, and there were remnants of white paint on it.
Fabrice Cuvillier, of the Brigade Criminelle, said, "It’s not a hallucination. It’s not something we threw out to create a diversion. It exists. We did not find this Fiat. But it would be dishonest of me to look you in the eye and say ‘we didn’t let the Fiat Uno slip through’. I don’t think so, but I’m not 100% sure." Eric Gigou, of the Brigade Criminelle, said, "We did everything we could to understand what happened and more than 1,000 people were interviewed in the investigation by the French authorities. In my mind, the only door that remains open is the testimony of the driver of the Fiat Uno."
Numerous claims have been made in response to Diana's death, ranging from accusations made by Fayed's father that the pair were killed in a scheme organized by the MI6 under the direction of the Duke of Edinburgh to ideas that Diana was carrying Fayed's child. Some explanations focused on the absence of surveillance tapes from the tunnel and the white Fiat Uno, which seemed to have collided with the Mercedes but was never located. A decade after the collision, a high-profile $5.27M investigation concluded that Diana and Dodi would have lived if they had been using seatbelts since driver Henri Paul was intoxicated and driving recklessly, trying to lose the paparazzi.