I knew Al Fayed Jr a little. He never complained I'd pinched his office. I doubt he cared. He was always polite, even charming, though once you'd got through the ritual polite inquiries after each other's health, you had pretty much exhausted the possibilities of conversation.
One thing, however, stuck in my mind because it subsequently took on an eerie significance. I mentioned to my dear friend, the late Terry O'Neill, one of our greatest photographers, that Dodi seemed a nice chap. Terry, who knew him much better than I, replied: 'Yes, he is, but never get in the back of a car with him. He does nothing but shout at the driver to go faster. It's scary.'
Then came that terrible night in Paris 26 years ago when he (Al Fayed) lost his son and his dream (almost certainly an impossible one) of becoming the father-in-law of the mother of a future king.
For him that would have been the ultimate revenge on an Establishment which never accepted him — and part of which actively despised him.
In the immediate aftermath I went to pay my respects. He was weighed down by grief, a lost soul. There was no word then of the ludicrous conspiracy theories he was soon to espouse. Instead, he told me something that I've never forgotten.
He recounted how Dodi had come up with the cockamamie plan to shake off the paparazzi by escaping via the back entrance of The Ritz hotel, where he and Diana were ensconced in the Imperial Suite. But his security detail said they did not work for Dodi and that to leave the hotel in the manner he wanted would require Mohamed's approval.
So Dodi called his dad. His dad spoke to security. He then told Dodi he should just relax with Diana at the Ritz. They were safe and secure in one of the world's greatest hotel suites. Why leave? Get room service and watch a film.
But Dodi told him Diana was distraught because a paparazzi mob had gathered outside.
He wanted to give them the slip and take her to the privacy and anonymity of his flat off the Champs-Elysées. After all, it would be their last night together for some time and he wanted Diana to leave with nothing but happy memories.
Mohammed caved in to his son. He looked at me with a tear in his eye as he recounted this story and said: 'I will never forgive myself for going along with Dodi's plan. He would still be alive but for me.'
Of course, Dodi was, sadly, the architect of his own death and of Diana's.
The decision to leave The Ritz wasn't taken until the very last minute, as was the roundabout route through a tunnel to get to Dodi's apartment.
By Al Fayed's own testimony to me, nobody could have been lying in wait to assassinate them since nobody knew in advance what they were going to do or how they were going to do it.
In the end, the People's Princess died a tragic but strangely prosaic death — at the hands of a drunken driver who was going too fast.
Syl said
Sep 5 12:18 AM, 2023
I have always believed she was murdered.
A chance came, and it was taken, blame it on a drunken driver, fail to find the white fiat that was involved....job done.
Magica said
Sep 5 1:11 AM, 2023
I always thought she was murdered. The driver in the white fiat, that knocked their car, was found later burned in his car! He was silenced.
Magica said
Sep 5 1:12 AM, 2023
Strange as well that all cameras were turned off.
Syl said
Sep 5 1:57 AM, 2023
Very strange that most accidents don't have vehicles that can't be traced.
Yet this one, involving the most famous woman in the world, with investigations and enquiries second to none, had so many unsolved questions.
Anonymous said
Sep 5 8:14 AM, 2023
Diana was followed everywhere by UK forces. They knew exactly what was happening, she was killed deliberately and Dodi al Fayed and Henri Paul were collateral damage.
Anonymous said
Sep 5 11:21 AM, 2023
(just my two cents)
There was a very credible risk that the mother of the future King of England would also give birth to a child whose father was a Muslim.
Magica said
Sep 5 5:39 PM, 2023
Vam wrote:
(just my two cents)
There was a very credible risk that the mother of the future King of England would also give birth to a child whose father was a Muslim.
Yes, there's that aswell.
Maddog said
Sep 5 6:28 PM, 2023
Government is too incompetent to pull this sorta thing off and keep it a secret.
There's carnage every day on the highways from people driving like lunatics.
No conspiracy needed to explain an event that happens all day every day.
Even royalty is subject to the laws of physics.
jackthelad said
Sep 5 6:42 PM, 2023
Maddog wrote:
Government is too incompetent to pull this sorta thing off and keep it a secret.
Totally wrong!
Governments are extremely well equipped for secrecy and a thing as small as a car crash even a royal one is small beans.
Just near you there was Los Alamos that was one big secret!
Syl said
Sep 5 7:25 PM, 2023
Maddog wrote:
Government is too incompetent to pull this sorta thing off and keep it a secret.
There's carnage every day on the highways from people driving like lunatics.
No conspiracy needed to explain an event that happens all day every day.
Even royalty is subject to the laws of physics.
Throughout history, governments have knocked off people, the UK government is just as devious as any other.
Syl said
Sep 5 7:30 PM, 2023
Magica wrote:
Vam wrote:
(just my two cents)
There was a very credible risk that the mother of the future King of England would also give birth to a child whose father was a Muslim.
Yes, there's that aswell.
Do you remember on that last holiday she had, she rode a jet ski out to watching English press, and said something along the lines of...'Just wait till I announce my latest news'...she never got the chance, she was dead a few days later.
Magica said
Sep 5 7:37 PM, 2023
Syl wrote:
Magica wrote:
Vam wrote:
(just my two cents)
There was a very credible risk that the mother of the future King of England would also give birth to a child whose father was a Muslim.
Yes, there's that aswell.
Do you remember on that last holiday she had, she rode a jet ski out to watching English press, and said something along the lines of...'Just wait till I announce my latest news'...she never got the chance, she was dead a few days later.
Yes I remember that. I dont think she was pregnant but.might be she was getting engaged or other news. M We will never know now. She was bumped.off to make way for Camilla. Who now is queen. Well I will never call her that. My queen died a year ago, but
is still my queen.
Syl said
Sep 5 8:05 PM, 2023
I doubt Charles had anything to do with her death, He was flaunting Camilla around throughout his marriage, once they had divorced Diana didn't stand in his way. I remember how alarmed she was when she was branded a loose cannon, and when Nicolas Soames, her husbands friend, spread rumours about her being mentally unstable. Her popularity always overshadowed the other royals was a problem, her inside knowledge, and the fact that after her divorce she seemed to be attracted to Muslim men, all could have been good reasons to get her out of the way....imo.
-- Edited by Syl on Tuesday 5th of September 2023 08:15:48 PM
Maddog said
Sep 5 8:38 PM, 2023
jackthelad wrote:
Maddog wrote:
Government is too incompetent to pull this sorta thing off and keep it a secret.
Totally wrong!
Governments are extremely well equipped for secrecy and a thing as small as a car crash even a royal one is small beans.
Just near you there was Los Alamos that was one big secret!
"Was".
jackthelad said
Sep 5 9:19 PM, 2023
Maddog wrote:
jackthelad wrote:
Maddog wrote:
Government is too incompetent to pull this sorta thing off and keep it a secret.
Totally wrong!
Governments are extremely well equipped for secrecy and a thing as small as a car crash even a royal one is small beans.
Just near you there was Los Alamos that was one big secret!
"Was".
Yes and for many years till it no longer mattered.
I thought you said governments couldn't keep secrets now you're agreeing they can.
If the intelligence services decided she had to go then it could be arranged very easily and any loose ends get labelled conspiracy theory.
Dead simple.
I have no idea and am not really interested in her or the royals so don't really give a hoot either way.
jackthelad said
Sep 5 10:44 PM, 2023
One of the biggest secrets ever created by the Fed and the government was that the Fed was government
and not a privately owned banking group. Along with that printed in text books as you once told me was the lie that banks
were lending mostly money out that they had when in reality they created the money out of thin air!
You yourself defended this lie quite aggressively at times.
Must have been a hell of a thing to hold your hands up and admit the vast majority of the world's population had been conned and for generations.
Now there's one hell of a secret created and sustained by government.
Maddog said
Sep 6 12:28 AM, 2023
jackthelad wrote:
One of the biggest secrets ever created by the Fed and the government was that the Fed was government and not a privately owned banking group. Along with that printed in text books as you once told me was the lie that banks were lending mostly money out that they had when in reality they created the money out of thin air! You yourself defended this lie quite aggressively at times. Must have been a hell of a thing to hold your hands up and admit the vast majority of the world's population had been conned and for generations. Now there's one hell of a secret created and sustained by government.
It's never been a secret that the Federal Reserve isn't "owned" by the government.
Quantitative Easing isn't a secret either. It started with the Japanese Central Bank in 1999 and we adopted the practice in 2008 as a result of the banking crisis, as did numerous other Central Banks including yours, which also isn't secret..
Maddog said
Sep 6 12:30 AM, 2023
jackthelad wrote:
Maddog wrote:
jackthelad wrote:
Maddog wrote:
Government is too incompetent to pull this sorta thing off and keep it a secret.
Totally wrong!
Governments are extremely well equipped for secrecy and a thing as small as a car crash even a royal one is small beans.
Just near you there was Los Alamos that was one big secret!
"Was".
Yes and for many years till it no longer mattered.
I thought you said governments couldn't keep secrets now you're agreeing they can.
If the intelligence services decided she had to go then it could be arranged very easily and any loose ends get labelled conspiracy theory.
Dead simple.
I have no idea and am not really interested in her or the royals so don't really give a hoot either way.
They can keep secrets for awhile.
Until the next big leak..
There's been plenty of leaks since Diana died.
Crickets on a conspiracy..
jackthelad said
Sep 6 1:20 AM, 2023
Maddog wrote:
jackthelad wrote:
One of the biggest secrets ever created by the Fed and the government was that the Fed was government and not a privately owned banking group. Along with that printed in text books as you once told me was the lie that banks were lending mostly money out that they had when in reality they created the money out of thin air! You yourself defended this lie quite aggressively at times. Must have been a hell of a thing to hold your hands up and admit the vast majority of the world's population had been conned and for generations. Now there's one hell of a secret created and sustained by government.
It's never been a secret that the Federal Reserve isn't "owned" by the government.
Quantitative Easing isn't a secret either. It started with the Japanese Central Bank in 1999 and we adopted the practice in 2008 as a result of the banking crisis, as did numerous other Central Banks including yours, which also isn't secret..
That's not what I'm talking about and you know it.
The Federal Reserve took the name Federal to make it sound governmental and you argued with us for years on dogs that it wasn't a private concern.
You also argued that banks didn't create money out of thin air everytime a loan was taken out.
You don't have to be embarrassed it was good of you to finally admit you were so wrong about this stuff.
I never believed she was 'murdered'
I knew Al Fayed Jr a little. He never complained I'd pinched his office. I doubt he cared. He was always polite, even charming, though once you'd got through the ritual polite inquiries after each other's health, you had pretty much exhausted the possibilities of conversation.
One thing, however, stuck in my mind because it subsequently took on an eerie significance. I mentioned to my dear friend, the late Terry O'Neill, one of our greatest photographers, that Dodi seemed a nice chap. Terry, who knew him much better than I, replied: 'Yes, he is, but never get in the back of a car with him. He does nothing but shout at the driver to go faster. It's scary.'
Then came that terrible night in Paris 26 years ago when he (Al Fayed) lost his son and his dream (almost certainly an impossible one) of becoming the father-in-law of the mother of a future king.
For him that would have been the ultimate revenge on an Establishment which never accepted him — and part of which actively despised him.
In the immediate aftermath I went to pay my respects. He was weighed down by grief, a lost soul. There was no word then of the ludicrous conspiracy theories he was soon to espouse. Instead, he told me something that I've never forgotten.
He recounted how Dodi had come up with the cockamamie plan to shake off the paparazzi by escaping via the back entrance of The Ritz hotel, where he and Diana were ensconced in the Imperial Suite. But his security detail said they did not work for Dodi and that to leave the hotel in the manner he wanted would require Mohamed's approval.
So Dodi called his dad. His dad spoke to security. He then told Dodi he should just relax with Diana at the Ritz. They were safe and secure in one of the world's greatest hotel suites. Why leave? Get room service and watch a film.
But Dodi told him Diana was distraught because a paparazzi mob had gathered outside.
He wanted to give them the slip and take her to the privacy and anonymity of his flat off the Champs-Elysées. After all, it would be their last night together for some time and he wanted Diana to leave with nothing but happy memories.
Mohammed caved in to his son. He looked at me with a tear in his eye as he recounted this story and said: 'I will never forgive myself for going along with Dodi's plan. He would still be alive but for me.'
Of course, Dodi was, sadly, the architect of his own death and of Diana's.
The decision to leave The Ritz wasn't taken until the very last minute, as was the roundabout route through a tunnel to get to Dodi's apartment.
By Al Fayed's own testimony to me, nobody could have been lying in wait to assassinate them since nobody knew in advance what they were going to do or how they were going to do it.
In the end, the People's Princess died a tragic but strangely prosaic death — at the hands of a drunken driver who was going too fast.
A chance came, and it was taken, blame it on a drunken driver, fail to find the white fiat that was involved....job done.
Yet this one, involving the most famous woman in the world, with investigations and enquiries second to none, had so many unsolved questions.
Diana was followed everywhere by UK forces. They knew exactly what was happening, she was killed deliberately and Dodi al Fayed and Henri Paul were collateral damage.
(just my two cents)
There was a very credible risk that the mother of the future King of England would also give birth to a child whose father was a Muslim.
Yes, there's that aswell.
There's carnage every day on the highways from people driving like lunatics.
No conspiracy needed to explain an event that happens all day every day.
Even royalty is subject to the laws of physics.
Totally wrong!
Governments are extremely well equipped for secrecy and a thing as small as a car crash even a royal one is small beans.
Just near you there was Los Alamos that was one big secret!
Throughout history, governments have knocked off people, the UK government is just as devious as any other.
Do you remember on that last holiday she had, she rode a jet ski out to watching English press, and said something along the lines of...'Just wait till I announce my latest news'...she never got the chance, she was dead a few days later.
Yes I remember that. I dont think she was pregnant but.might be she was getting engaged or other news. M We will never know now. She was bumped.off to make way for Camilla. Who now is queen. Well I will never call her that. My queen died a year ago, but
is still my queen.
I doubt Charles had anything to do with her death, He was flaunting Camilla around throughout his marriage, once they had divorced Diana didn't stand in his way.
I remember how alarmed she was when she was branded a loose cannon, and when Nicolas Soames, her husbands friend, spread rumours about her being mentally unstable.
Her popularity always overshadowed the other royals was a problem, her inside knowledge, and the fact that after her divorce she seemed to be attracted to Muslim men, all could have been good reasons to get her out of the way....imo.
-- Edited by Syl on Tuesday 5th of September 2023 08:15:48 PM
"Was".
Yes and for many years till it no longer mattered.
I thought you said governments couldn't keep secrets now you're agreeing they can.
If the intelligence services decided she had to go then it could be arranged very easily and any loose ends get labelled conspiracy theory.
Dead simple.
I have no idea and am not really interested in her or the royals so don't really give a hoot either way.
and not a privately owned banking group. Along with that printed in text books as you once told me was the lie that banks
were lending mostly money out that they had when in reality they created the money out of thin air!
You yourself defended this lie quite aggressively at times.
Must have been a hell of a thing to hold your hands up and admit the vast majority of the world's population had been conned and for generations.
Now there's one hell of a secret created and sustained by government.
It's never been a secret that the Federal Reserve isn't "owned" by the government.
Quantitative Easing isn't a secret either. It started with the Japanese Central Bank in 1999 and we adopted the practice in 2008 as a result of the banking crisis, as did numerous other Central Banks including yours, which also isn't secret..
They can keep secrets for awhile.
Until the next big leak..
There's been plenty of leaks since Diana died.
Crickets on a conspiracy..
That's not what I'm talking about and you know it.
The Federal Reserve took the name Federal to make it sound governmental and you argued with us for years on dogs that it wasn't a private concern.
You also argued that banks didn't create money out of thin air everytime a loan was taken out.
You don't have to be embarrassed it was good of you to finally admit you were so wrong about this stuff.
You overcame the cognitive dissonance.