Days That Shook the World (2003) s01e02 Episode Script

1
NARRATOR: The British Royal Family is a
source of fascination around the world.
Two days have shaped our perception
of the modern monarchy.
The coronation of Elizabeth II
and the death of Princess Diana.
Defining moments,
separated by just 44 years.
This is a dramatisation of events
as they happened,
on two days that shook the world.
It's June the 2nd, 1953.
In England,
James Watson and Francis Crick
have discovered the structure of DNA
Negotiations are under way
to end the Korean War.
In America, Arthur Miller's play
The Crucible has opened on Broadway.
And in London,
preparations are under way
for an event
that will captivate a nation.
The Palace of Westminster, London.
Television producer Peter Dimmock
has had a restless night.
Later today he is due to direct a live
seven-hour television broadcast.
It's an event that will not just
make or break his career
but will determine the future
of the BBC
DIMMOCK: When my role
was first suggested,
I thought it was a great privilege,
but I had also never been
so frightened in my life.
I was a pilot in the war
and had faced some scary situations.
But nothing matched
how 1 felt that morning.
NARRATOR: In order to be closer
to the control room,
a friend has offered Peter
a bedroom in the Palace of Westminster.
But last night he was told that
a princess had once been murdered
in this very room.
Already on edge,
his nerves have prevented him
getting a decent night's sleep.
ANNOUNCER ON RADIO:
By the light of our camera flares,
we saw them, sleeping, resting,
defying the bitterly cold night
NARRATOR: Outside, half a million
people are sleeping rough.
Rain has been falling
sporadically all evening
and at four degrees,
it's a bitterly cold night
ANNOUNCER ON RADIO:
They slept on newspapers,
they slept on blankets,
they slept where they had
been sitting all day.
NARRATOR: Yet despite the weather,
no one is moving from their position.
The crowds hope that today will
reverse the fortunes of a country
still recovering from war
and mark the beginning
of a new Elizabethan Age.
In Buckingham Palace, the 27-year-old
woman at the centre of today's events
sleeps peacefully.
A dutiful member of the Royal Family,
Elizabeth Windsor has been preparing
for today since she was 10 years old,
when the abdication of her uncle,
King Edward VI,
put her in direct line
to the English throne.
This destiny was sealed 16 months ago
during a Commonwealth tour
with her husband.
ANNOUNCER: Less than three months
after returning from their Canadian tour
Princess Elizabeth and
the Duke of Edinburgh
set off on another Commonwealth journey.
NARRATOR:
It was a trip the precarious health
of her father, King George VI
prevented him from taking.
A lifelong smoker,
he'd been diagnosed with cancer
and had barely recovered from
an operation to remove one of his lungs.
For Princess Elizabeth,
the tour began well
After their official engagements,
the couple went on safari in Kenya,
the Princess taking several feet of film
with her new cine cam.
But just three days later,
at their hunting lodge,
they received news from home.
MAN ON RADIO: This is London.
It is with the greatest sorrow that we
make the following announcement
At 10:45 today, February the 6th, 1952,
the King, who retired to rest last night
in his usual health,
passed peacefully away in his sleep
earlier this morning.
NARRATOR:
The King had died of a thrombosis.
A single heartbeat later,
Elizabeth became Queen.
ELIZABETH: Your Royal Highnesses,
My Lords, Ladies and Gentlemen,
by the sudden death of my dear father
I am called to assume
the duties and responsibilities
of sovereignty.
1 pray that God will help me
to discharge worthily this heavy task
that has been laid upon me
so early in life.
NARRATOR: It's been 16 months
since Elizabeth's accession,
the long wait caused by
the complex preparations
and her desire for good weather.
Today, the 2nd of June,
the Met Office insists
is the one day of the year on
which the sun is most likely to shine.
The Crown Jewels are
already at the Abbey,
transported under armed guard yesterday.
Elizabeth was expected to wear
the lighter Imperial State Crown.
Designed and made for the 18-year-old
Queen Victoria, the crown is priceless,
set with 2,700 diamonds and four pearls
worn as earrings by Elizabeth I
But Elizabeth II has insisted on wearing
the more traditional St Edward's Crown.
Made in 1661 and weighing half a stone,
it had fallen out of use.
Her father and grandfather wore it
for part of their coronation,
but Elizabeth will be
the first modern monarch
to wear it
for the whole of the ceremony.
In half an hour, Peter will
meet his staff for a final briefing.
(ALARM RINGING)
A live outside broadcast on this scale
is unprecedented
and Peter is feeling apprehensive
about the challenge he faces.
Thirty-two years old,
in the pioneering world of television,
he's already an industry veteran.
Past triumphs have included the coverage
of the 1948 Olympic Games
and the 1949 Boat Race,
but neither come close
to the scale of today's broadcast.
Every camera the BBC owns
has been pressed into commission.
Fifteen cameras
line the procession route
with a further five positioned
inside Westminster Abbey.
Live pictures will be broadcast
across Britain
and via specially constructed
radio links
to France, West Germany and Holland.
In addition, helicopters are standing by
to transport recordings
to an RAF airfield where Canberra
bombers will fly them to Canada.
The codename is Operation Pony Express.
This will be the first time
on which television films
will be shown in Canada
at the same hour
that they will be seen in London.
And this all because
the Canberra can cross the Atlantic
at the same time as it takes the Earth
to rotate on its axis.
NARRATOR:
The broadcast is costing the BBC £44,000
and constitutes a media revolution.
For Peter, it's a huge responsibility.
Peter's control room is outside
the Henry VII Chapel,
a three-minute walk away.
By now the streets are packed.
London Transport buses bring in
a thousand people an hour.
At 8:30, nine-foot-high barriers
will seal off the procession route
to all incoming traffic.
Today's event has drawn people
from all over the world.
Records have been broken
at London Airport,
with 700 planes bringing in
over 16,000 passengers
during the last week alone.
By mid-morning, it's estimated
that over a million people
will be lining the streets of London.
Along the Embankment,
30,000 children take their places.
They're in for a long wait
The coronation procession
isn't due to leave
Buckingham Palace for several hours.
Peter must now concentrate on
his far larger television audience.
(DOOR OPENS)
- Good morning.
- Good morning.
- Good morning.
- Good morning.
DIMMOCK: Despite the crowds outside,
no one was late.
Everyone involved, especially myself,
knew how crucial the broadcast was
to the very future of television.
NARRATOR: Still seen as
the poor relation of radio,
the BBC's single-channel
black-and-white television service
has only been broadcasting since 1936,
with a complete break
during the second World War.
Testing. Testing.
One, two, three.
(SINGING WE WANT MUFFIN)
Initially, the transmissions reached
just 20,000 people
within a 35-mile radius
of Alexandra Palace.
Now, at least two and a half million
homes have a television set
with the coronation broadcast
prompting a dramatic rise in sales.
Today, for the first time, more people
would be tuning in to Peter's programme
than to their radios.
At Buckingham Palace, Elizabeth is woken
by her lady's maid, Margaret MacDonald.
She's a lifelong employee of the Palace,
whom the Queen has nicknamed Bobo.
Despite the predictions of
the Met Office, Bobo has bad news.
It's raining, ma'am.
(RAIN PATTERING)
NARRATOR: The weather has been
the only thing left to chance.
Over the past 18 months,
the conscientious Elizabeth
has rehearsed every aspect
of the two-and-a-half-hour ceremony.
(GEORGE VI SPEAKING)
Using recordings of
her father's coronation as a guide
(GEORGE VI ON GRAMOPHONE)
she strongly believes
that it's her duly to preserve
the traditions and sacred rights
of the monarchy
and is anxious to ensure
the correct execution of every detail
The State Ballroom at Buckingham Palace
has been marked out
to replicate Westminster Abbey.
And white bed sheets have doubled
as a crimson velvet and ermine train.
But it's not just the Queen
who's been hard at work.
The west End of London has also
undergone a huge transformation.
Three 60-foot ornamental arches
have been erected over the Mall,
along with stands to seat
100,000 people.
Outside Westminster Abbey,
a temporary annexe has been constructed
to provide a place for the royal party
to rest after the ceremony.
Accommodation has also been found for
the extra policemen needed for the day.
The Crown Jewellers have painstakingly
dismantled and cleaned the regalia,
shortening Elizabeth's choice of the
St Edward's Crown by an inch and a half
to make it more feminine.
Overseeing the preparations
has been the Earl Marshal of England,
the Duke of Norfolk.
It's a role that has rested with
his family since the 15th century.
He has already organised
the coronation of George VI in 7937,
and is a man
with a formidable reputation.
I don't want you to ask me
all the details of this, that
and the other,
because they haven't been arranged
and I've told you, after all,
what you really want to know.
(CLOCK TICKING)
NARRATOR: The design
of Elizabeth's coronation dress
is a closely guarded secret.
Made of white satin, and embroidered
with pearls, diamonds and amethysts,
it's been specially designed
for maximum impact
under the glare of television lights.
Included on the skirt are emblems of
Great Britain and the Commonwealth,
a politically inspired detail
that nearly backfired.
The designs were begun last October by
the Queen's dressmaker, Norman Hartnell
After painstakingly drawing a Tudor rose
for England, a thistle for Scotland
and a shamrock for Ireland, he then
mistakenly drew a daffodil for Wales.
An official in the Earl Marshal's office
tactfully pointed out
the correct emblem was in fact a leek.
HARTNELL: The leek, I agreed,
was a most admirable vegetable,
full of heraldic significance and
doubtless of health-giving properties,
but scarcely noted for its beauty.
Could he not possibly permit me to use
the more graceful daffodil instead?
NARRATOR: When Palace officials
insisted he use a leek,
the stress of the last few weeks
finally overwhelmed him.
He suffered a nervous breakdown
and retired to the country.
HARTNELL: My enthusiasm blunted, I went
down to Windsor, greatly depressed.
I went out to the vegetable garden,
pulled up a leek
and suddenly remembered the cap badge
of the Welsh Guards.
Perhaps, after all,
something could be done with it
NARRATOR: With a design based on
the motif of the Welsh regiment
Hartnell transformed the leek into a
fitting addition to the coronation gown.
When she first saw the dress,
Elizabeth declared it glorious.
In just over an hour, the public will
be able to judge for themselves.
It's an hour before
the service is due to begin
and Peter Dimmock is preparing to direct
the five cameras inside the Abbey.
Already responsible for planning
much of today's broadcast,
he will leave others to film
the procession to
and from Buckingham Palace.
Instead he will concentrate
on the coronation ceremony.
Hello, this is the gallery.
Just checking talk-back.
Can you hear me loud and clear?
NARRATOR: It's the one element
of the television broadcast
that has sparked controversy.
Early last summer, the cabinet and
church authorities banned the cameras,
fearing the bright lights
needed for filming would prove
too much for the young Queen.
DIMMOCK: The view was that most of
the distinguished guests would not
have good views of the ceremony, so
why should the ordinary people at home?
It was as if the privilege was being
taken away from them.
NARRATOR: There was an immediate
and universal outcry,
with 80 MP’s tabling a motion
against the restriction.
The authorities backed down.
But the Earl Marshal characteristically
imposed one significant condition.
1 would like to emphasize that
there will not be
what television people
probably are getting used to,
the ordinary close-up.
That will not be there.
NARRATOR: With seven years
of television experience,
Peter knows a close-up shot
of the newly crowned Queen
could be a defining moment.
He must decide whether to risk
the displeasure of the Palace,
ignore the ban and take the shot
The seven-hour live broadcast begins.
It's surely the greatest moment
in television history
as we take you now
into the heart of London
to witness these memorable events.
NARRATOR: While Peter prepares
the cameras inside the Abbey,
the first to broadcast are the cameras
next to Buckingham Palace
with commentary provided
by Berkeley Smith.
SMITH: Good morning, but not quite
the morning we'd hoped for.
There's a threat of rain
from a dull overcast sky.
NARRATOR: Inside the Palace,
Elizabeth and Prince Philip
wait for their coach to arrive.
If they fall to leave precisely on time,
the meticulous planning
will all be for nothing.
The Crown Jewels are taken
from the Abbey's Jerusalem chambers
to the main hall,
ready for the ceremony.
In the annexe outside the Abbey,
a journalist from The Dally Mirror
is waiting
for the royal party to arrive.
Audrey Whiting is the paper's
Paris correspondent,
but today she has been asked
to cover the Coronation.
At precisely 10:26,
the British public see their Queen
for the first time today.
(CROWD CHEERING)
SMITH: And here comes
the Sovereign's escort
Behind, riding in the gold coach
of state, her husband at her side,
comes Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II
By the Grace of God, Queen of this Realm
and of Her other Realms and Territories,
Head of the Commonwealth,
Defender of the Faith.
NARRATOR: For many of the spectators,
the golden state coach pulled by
eight Windsor Greys
becomes the abiding image of the day.
Built for George III,
it was initially criticised for
its excessive cost and fanciful design.
With panels by Italian painter Cipriani,
and gilded in 18-carat gold,
the coach's great weight restricts the
procession to just three miles an hour.
SMITH: And so the Queen has started
NARRATOR: As they wait
for the procession to arrive,
the atmosphere inside the control room
is tense.
Thank you, very much.
Right, everyone.
That's 10 minutes to air.
Ten minutes to air.
NARRATOR: Today's unprecedented demands
have stretched the BBC's resources
to the limit.
Some of the equipment
dates from before the war.
And if anything breaks,
there are no spares.
Ahead of Elizabeth
in the Irish State Coach,
the Queen Mother and Princess Margaret
are among the first
to arrive at the Abbey.
They are unaware that even today,
with such public displays of
affection towards them,
a damaging scandal is brewing.
In the past month,
newspapers in America
have reported Margaret's affair
with a 36-year-old divorced father
of two, Group Captain Peter Townsend.
The Queen, as head of
the Church of England,
could never sanction
a marriage between them.
In Britain, Fleet Street has so far
kept a loyal silence.
But the papers are watching and waiting.
SMITH: And at last the coach,
for which all eyes have been waiting.
(CROWD CHEERING)
And such a burst of loving cheering
from these children
as will not be heard
in the whole of London today.
They have seen the Queen
on her coronation day.
A memory that's going to live surely
with those children for their lives.
(CROWD ROARING)
NARRATOR: As the Queen arrives
at the Abbey, Peter takes his cue
from Broadcasting House central control
WOMAN: Ten, nine, eight, seven,
six, five, four, three, two, one.
DIMMOCK: And we're on air, cue Richard.
DIMBLEBY: Here in the Abbey Church
of St Peter, Westminster.
A great congregation of 7,000,
come from every part of the world,
awaits the arrival of Her Majesty.
NARRATOR: In a tiny cubicle overlooking
the Abbey is Richard Dimbleby,
the nation's best-known
radio commentator.
He spent six months preparing for today
and knows the historic significance
behind every ritual
DIMBLEBY: In the distance,
the front rank of the peeresses,
who sit with their tiaras
a-glitter and a-shimmer.
NARRATOR: In the congregation,
dressmaker Norman Hartnell has already
been in the Abbey for five hours.
He's hidden sugar lumps
in the tall pocket of his court suit
to keep up his energy levels.
HARTNELL: I fumble nervously
for another lump of sugar,
my hand is trembling.
For soon I shall be seeing
the dress I had made,
worn by Her Majesty the Queen
for her crowning.
MAN: Coming to four, cue four.
NARRATOR: For Elizabeth,
the moment she has prepared for
all her life finally arrives.
She enters Westminster Abbey
to be crowned Queen of England.
MAN: Coming to three.
Cue three.
NARRATOR: At no other time in history
has one person been exposed
to the gaze of so many.
Over 20 million people have
gathered round television sets
to watch the ceremony.
More than half the British population.
PEOPLE: Vivat Regina!
Vivat Regina Elizabetha!
Vivat! Vivat! Vivat! ♪
ARCHBISHOP: I here present unto you
Queen Elizabeth,
your undoubted Queen,
wherefore all you who are come this day
to do your homage and service,
are you willing to do the same?
(ALL REPLYING IN UNISON)
ELIZABETH: The things which 1 have
here before promised,
I will perform and keep. So help me God.
DIMBLEBY:
And the Queen now returns to her chair.
PEOPLE: God save the Queen!
God save the Queen! ♪
NARRATOR: At her father's coronation,
there had been numerous errors.
The prelates nearly tripped him up,
and the Archbishop had put the crown
on the wrong way round.
DIMBLEBY: The Dean of Westminster,
helped by the Mistress of the Robes,
puts upon the Queen
the colobium sindonis,
which translated means
"the little gown of linen.”
NARRATOR:
But Elizabeth's rehearsals pay off.
During the two-and-a-half-hour
ceremony she forgets just one curtsey.
As she takes her place in
King Edward's Chair for the crowning,
her son, four-year-old Prince Charles,
is brought into the royal box.
One day, he too may face such a moment.
DIMBLEBY: The moment of
the Queen's crowning is come.
ALL: (IN UNISON) God save the Queen!
Long live the Queen! God save the Queen!
(ALL SINGING GOD SAVE THE QUEEN)
MAN: Cue four.
NARRATOR: The atmosphere
in the control room is tense.
So far the cameras have performed
without a hitch.
But as the Queen processes
down the Abbey,
she becomes obscured
by the pageboys in front.
Stay with the wide on four.
Okay, stay on four.
NARRATOR: Peter knows the moment
for the close-up has come.
Okay, take it in. Close-up on two.
NARRATOR: He cues the camera positioned
above the Abbey's west door.
And coming to two.
NARRATOR:
The face of the Queen fills the frame.
Hold it, hold it,
hold it on two, hold it
Hold it, hold it
and back to five.
NARRATOR: In an instant,
the relationship between
the monarchy and the media is rewritten.
(BELLS CLANGING)
In the annexe outside the Abbey,
Dally Mirror journalist Audrey Whiting
has been waiting for the service to end.
(BELLS RINGING)
The royal party enters for a short break
before beginning the long procession
back to Buckingham Palace.
Suddenly, Princess Margaret arrives
and immediately heads towards an RAF
officer on the other side of the room.
WHITING: As they came together,
1 saw the Princess reach up
and pluck an offending piece of thread.
The kind of gesture which could only
occur between two people
who knew each other intimately.
Intuitively I said to myself,
"Those two are in love.”
NARRATOR: The RAF officer is divorcee
Group Captain Peter Townsend.
It's the proof tie press
have been waif ting for.
Audrey cannot believe her luck.
SMITH: And there you see the head
of the procession as it moves
NARRATOR: The procession back to
Buckingham Palace begins.
Thirteen thousand troops, 29 bands
and the 27 carriages
will take two hours to travel the
seven miles back to Buckingham Palace.
SMITH: Now come the Mounties.
(CROWD CHEERING)
NARRATOR: It's been pouring with rain
for the last hour and a half.
But the spectators, many of whom
have now been in position for two days,
remain enthusiastic.
SMITH. No umbrellas up allowed here,
just newspapers on their heads.
NARRATOR: Seven of the carriages
are props from a film set,
donated by Director Alexander Korda
after the Royal Mews discovered
there weren't enough.
SMITH: The Queen of Tonga.
The women of the Royal Air Force
wearing their new hats
and very glamorous in their nylons.
Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth,
the Queen Mother
and Her Royal Highness
Princess Margaret.
(CROWD CHEERING)
You've got to put the phone down.
I've got the most amazing scoop.
NARRATOR: Audrey arrives at
the Fleet Street offices
of The Dally Mirror.
She is convinced she has
an exclusive scoop.
Princess Margaret walked right over to
him, brushed some fluff from his lapel
She actually touched him in public.
NARRATOR:
Her editor refuses to publish the story,
saying he doesn't want to spoil
the Queen's day.
Peter Dimmock's role in
today's events is over.
But he's anxious about
tomorrow's press reviews.
His worries are proved unfounded.
The broadcast is hailed as
a resounding success.
And Peter will go on to become the BBC's
head of television outside broadcasts.
Twelve days later, The Dally Mirror's
rival newspaper, The People,
breaks the news of Princess Margaret's
love affair with Peter Townsend.
It marks the beginning of a more
candid approach to royal reporting.
Margaret will fall to win the approval
of the cabinet to marry Townsend.
Instead, in 1960 she weds photographer
Anthony Armstrong-Jones,
retaining her title
and place on the civil st
The executive producer of the
television broadcast is Peter Dimmock.
DIMBLEBY:
So with this Coronation Day begins
a new chapter in the long pageant
of British history.
NARRATOR: Queen Elizabeth will enjoy
a long and successful reign,
although she will later face criticism
for her formal and unemotional style.
As society no longer finds it acceptable
to automatically defer to the monarchy,
the press begin to pay
less heed to royal protocol
Forty-four years later, this trend
will reach its tragic climax.
It's August 30th, 1997.
In America
Timothy McVeigh has been sentenced
to death for the Oklahoma bombing.
A space module is transmitting pictures
of Mars to NASA control in Pasadena.
The rule of Hong Kong has been
returned to China by the British.
And in France, the arrival of one woman
is about to trigger
a fatal chain of events.
Paris. Saturday morning.
Like every August, the French capital
is mostly populated by tourists.
Its residents are on holiday, seeking
relief from the heat of the city.
But in the suburbs,
one man has to remain.
(MOBILE RINGING)
(SPEAKS FRENCH)
Thirty-seven year old Frédéric Mailliez
is doctor with the private
emergency service, SOS Médecins,
and will not get a holiday
until next month.
(SIREN WAILS)
(CAR ENGINE STARTS)
But at least this will be
his last call today.
Tonight he's attending a friend's party.
Working doctors' hours,
he's looking forward to a night out
Le Bourget Airport.
Three discreet runways in a suburb
10 miles north of Paris,
catering for the city's social
and financial elite.
The staff are used to famous passengers
but they are not expecting anyone today.
Only the arrival of a motorbike
indicates someone famous
might be due to arrive.
Acting on a Hip-off
from a colleague in Italy,
the motorbike passenger is Romuald Rat,
a photographer with
the respected Gamma agency.
Founded in the '60s, Gamma made its
name with images of civil unrest
in political hotspots like Prague
and Vietnam.
But recently, many picture agencies
have been forced to focus
more on celebrity photos.
Like many French paparazzi,
Rat follows his subjects by motorbike.
He usually drives himself, but today
he has asked his editor for help.
(SPEAKS FRENCH)
Stephane Darmon is an out-of-work
driving instructor
and has never driven
for the paparazzi before.
Three months ago,
he'd met a Gamma employee
who'd suggested him as holiday cover.
He has a reputation as a timid man
and a cautious driver.
He's never been given a speeding ticket
DARMON: Of course,
I am not some sort of innocent.
I was helping the guy
to get his pictures,
but I had no idea
what I was getting into.
It is another world. These guys are
ready to do anything for a picture.
(SPEAKING FRENCH)
Shortly after 3:20, a Gulf stream
executive jet lands at Le Bourget.
It seems that Rat's tip-off was spot-on.
Among the passengers is the most
famous woman in the world.
Princess Diana is spending one night
in Paris before returning home
to see her sons William and Harry for
the last week of the school holidays.
For the last 10 days she's been
on board the luxury yacht, The Jonikal,
owned by Egyptian multi-millionaire,
Mohamed Al Fayed.
During the summer, his son Dodi
has become her new lover.
(CAMERA SHUTTER CLICKING)
Accompanying them
has been the world's media.
It's something Diana has lived with
since she was 19,
when her relationship with
Prince Charles first became public.
While she welcomes the publicity
for her charily work,
she finds the constant intrusion
into her private life
more difficult to tolerate
A normal day,
we'd be followed by four cars.
A normal day, we'd come back to my car
and find six freelance photographers
jumping around me.
They've decided that I'm still a project
after 15, 16 years that sells well.
NARRATOR: A month ago, The Sunday Mirror
paid an unprecedented £250,000
to be the first to publish an image
of Diana and Dodi kissing.
This one picture would earn Italian
photographer Mario Brenner
an estimated $2,000,000.
Rat was also
in Saint Tropez at the time,
but failed to get a photo of the couple.
Today, he's not going to make
the same mistake.
After a day trailing Diana and Dodi,
Rat and Darmon arrive at the Ritz Hotel
in the Place Vendome.
Now owned by Mohamed Al Fayed,
the hotel is a favoured haunt
for the world's rich and famous.
Diana and Dodi are expected any minute.
The paparazzi have been
following them all afternoon.
Their first stop was the Villa Windsor.
This historic building and former home
of Edward VIII and Mrs Simpson
is now rented by Dodi's father.
Next stop was the Ritz,
where Diana had her hair done.
Finally, they went to Dodi's apartment
in the rue Arséne-Houssaye,
just off the Champs-Elysées.
(SIREN WAILING)
Meanwhile, Dr Mailliez has finished work
and returned home
to get ready for the party.
At just after 10 to 10,
the Ritz Hotel security cameras
captured Diana and Dodi arriving.
There is an unpleasant scene
as the paparazzi rush to get photos.
Even the two bodyguards
are powerless to help.
Alexander Wingfield, nicknamed Kez,
is an ex-marine
normally based at
the Fayed's Saint Tropez villa.
Trevor Rees-Jones,
a former British paratrooper,
is Dodi's personal bodyguard.
Throughout the last two weeks, Dodi has
consistently failed to give bodyguards
advance warning of his plans.
DODI: How did this fiasco happen?
Why wasn't the reception arranged?
REES-JONES: You never told us
where we were going.
If you had done, we would have
been able to phone ahead
and get things sorted out.
NARRATOR: Trevor Rees-jones
is near to breaking point.
Right, it's the last day,
let's just get it done.
NARRATOR: Despite an afternoon
of following the couple,
Rat is still without his picture.
Diana and Dodi left the car separately,
an established trick
to foll the paparazzi.
He and Darmon now face a long wait
until the couple
leave the hotel later tonight
The Bar Vendome in the Ritz
The two bodyguards are allowed a break
whilst Diana and Dodi
order dinner in their suite.
It's their first meal since breakfast,
on board The Jonikal
on the final day of a trip
which has been marred by frustration.
Time and again, Dodi's lack of
communication has left the bodyguards
unable to put in place
the correct security procedures.
Hell of a trip so far, isn't it?
Yeah.
Trevor only agreed to come on the trip
at the last minute
to cover for a colleague
who wanted time off.
This single decision will have
a profound consequence
on the rest of his life.
The Ritz security camera captures
a black Min/
arriving at the front entrance.
Henri Paul is deputy head
of security at the hotel
and is highly prized
for his loyalty and discretion.
Staff call him the eyes
and ears of the boss,
the hotel's president, Frank Klein.
You shouldn't be here,
because Mr Klein won't like it.
I couldn't give a toss, because I
work for Mr Fayed and no one else.
NARRATOR: He's meant to be off-duty,
but earlier he asked
the night security manager
to call him if Diana and Dodi
reappeared at the hotel
So what you been doing?
NARRATOR: Trevor has met Henri Paul
before and has little time for him.
Neither of the bodyguards
are fond of his cigars.
What's that you're smoking?
It smells awful
I'm trying to eat my sandwich.
REES-JONES: Would you mind?
NARRATOR: Upstairs,
Diana and Dodi's meal arrives
at the £6000-a-night Imperial Suite.
Sole with vegetable tempura for Diana,
grilled turbot for Dodi, washed down
with a bottle of Taittinger champagne.
It's been a year since Diana's divorce
from Prince Charles,
the end of a 15-year marriage
which, in retrospect,
was doomed from the start.
I'm amazed that she's been brave
enough to take me on.
MAN: And I suppose in love?
- Of course.
- Whatever "in love" means.
NARRATOR: The relationship
with a fairytale beginning
ended in scandal and acrimony.
Well, there were three of us
in this marriage,
so it was a bit crowded.
MAN: It is announced from Buckingham
Palace, that with regret,
the Prince and Princess of Wales
have decided to separate.
NARRATOR: With Dodi, she finally appears
to have found happiness.
But his reputation
as a millionaire playboy
has not endeared him
to the tabloid press.
When Diana returns home tomorrow,
an article in The News Of The World will
claim William wants her to dump him.
In the Bar Vendome, security manager
Henri Paul orders another drink.
The bodyguards assume
it's pineapple juice.
You're drinking pineapple, yeah?
NARRATOR: 70 them, drinking alcohol
on duly is unheard of.
Kez shares a crude joke over
the French word for pineapple, “ananas"
- Ananas?
- Yeah. Ananas.
REES-JONES: So you're drinking "an ass"?
(LAUGHS)
- Good ass, yeah?
- Yeah.
NARRATOR: In fact Henri Paul is
drinking Ricard, an aniseed aperitif;
popular in France.
Only the barman, Alain Willaumez,
later claims to notice the affect
it's having on him.
ALAIN: Monsieur Paul was drunk.
His eyes shone, he seemed excited.
When he left the bar
with the two bodyguards,
he bumped into monsieur l'hotelier
the head barman,
and staggered to the exit
NARRATOR: But his behaviour is not seen
as particularly significant
After all,
Henri Paul is officially off duty.
And he's not due to drive
anyone tonight, other than himself.
Outside, a large crowd
of paparazzi and tourists
have gathered in front of the hotel,
including a coach party of Hungarians.
Dodi calls the night security manager
to let him know.
When he hears Henri Paul
has returned to the hotel,
he devises a plan
that in less than two hours' time
will leave three people dead.
Thank you very much.
NARRATOR: The bodyguards,
now outside the suite,
are once again left in the dark.
Rat and Darmon have now been waiting
for Diana and Dodi for over an hour.
Suddenly, Henri Paul emerges from
the hotel entrance and approaches them.
(HENRI PAUL SPEAKING FRENCH)
NARRATOR: Darmon,
a novice in such situations,
finds his behaviour strange.
DARMON: Henri Paul began
playing games with us,
saying they would be out
in 10 minutes, then five.
(DODI CHATTERING)
NARRATOR: Henri Paul has now been told
Dodi no longer wants to leave
in a chauffeur-driven car
from the front of the hotel
Instead, he wants Henri to drive him
and Diana from the back entrance
to try and shake off the paparazzi.
DARMON: They staged two false departures
in which Mercedes cars
drove around the Place Vendome
and came back again.
He laughed at us, charging off behind
them and the crowd enjoyed it, too.
In retrospect, he was overly folly but I
did not think about it at the time,
especially since I had no idea
he would end up driving
Diana and Dodi's car.
NARRATOR: The bodyguards are finally
told of Dodi's plan by Henri Paul
While he will drive the couple
from the hotel's back entrance,
Dodi wants Kez and Trevor to leave
in a decoy car from the front.
No chance is he leaving
without a bodyguard.
That's just ridiculous.
NARRATOR: This contravenes
all their security training.
Henri Paul is neither a bodyguard
nor a chauffeur,
and this plan will leave Diana
and Dodi without a back-up vehicle.
No way in a million years is it
going to be without me.
I'll be coming if we go with this.
NARRATOR: But Henri Paul tells them
the plan has been agreed by their boss,
Mohamed Al Fayed.
Fayed will later claim that he told
Dodi not to play any tricks
and to be nice to the paparazzi.
But right now, the bodyguards
are powerless to argue.
Kez seizes his last opportunity
to speak to the couple.
Finally Dodi agrees one bodyguard
can travel with him and Diana.
Kez offers to go
but Trevor is insistent.
He's Dodi's personal bodyguard, and
he will be the one to travel in the car.
Henri Paul stays with Diana and Dodi
in the service corridor,
while Trevor checks outside.
Some photographers are waiting,
their suspicions aroused
by Henri Paul's earlier taunts.
Dodi's plan is a failure from the start.
The rue Cambon, the back entrance
of the Ritz hotel
Tests will later reveal
Henri Paul has drunk
more than three times
the legal alcohol limit
and has taken both an anti-depressant
and a tranquilliser.
The Mercedes 5280 has been hired
at the last minute
and doesn't have tinted windows.
As the car door closes,
a paparazzo moves in.
He takes what will be one of
the last photos of Diana and Dodi alive.
(CAMERA SHUTTER CLICKING)
(SHOUTS IN FRENCH)
Henri Paul is heard warning
the photographers not to follow them
as they will never catch them.
(MOBILE RINGING)
(SPEAKS FRENCH)
NARRATOR: Rat gets a tip-off
that Diana and Dodi have left
from the rear of the hotel
The Mercedes is heading south,
down the one-way rue Cambon.
By the time the car turns right
onto the rue de Rivoli,
the paparazzi have already caught up.
Several are in pursuit,
including Rat and Darmon.
At the Place de la Concorde, Henri Paul
is forced to stop at a red light.
He now faces a dilemma.
The most direct route
to Dodi's apartment is right,
down the Champs-Elysées.
But in a car without tinted windows,
the avenue's many sets of traffic lights
will offer too many photo opportunities.
As Rat tries to contact a colleague
to let him know where they are,
Henri Paul makes his decision.
Instead of turning right,
he drives straight on,
taking a longer route
along the River Seine.
Two miles away,
SOS Médecins Dr Frédéric Mailliez
leaves his friend's birthday party
in the Boulogne district of Paris.
He's on call again in just a few hours.
As Henri Paul turns right
onto the Cours la Reine,
Rat and Darmon are
the first to follow the Mercedes.
DARMON: Once it had turned into
the dual carriageway,
it just took off, almost supersonic.
The speed limit in central Paris is
50 kilometres an hour.
By accelerating to over 100 km an hour,
Henri Paul easily outpaces
the paparazzi.
The car goes through the first of two
tunnels, under the Pont Alexandre I
No one in the car is aware
that the next tunnel
has one of the worst
accident records in Paris.
In the last 15 years,
crashes under the Pont de l'Alma
have left eight people dead
and eight more severely injured.
(TYRES SKIDDING)
In the right-hand lane
is a white Flat Uno.
Henri Paul tries to avoid it,
but he clips it with
the right wing of the Mercedes.
As the Mercedes goes over
the notorious hump
at the entrance to the tunnel,
Henri Paul loses control
REES-JONES: You're losing it,
you're losing it, slow down!
(CRASHING)
(HORN BLARING)
NARRATOR: The car crashed at full speed
into the 13th pillar.
Dodi and Henri Paul are dead,
killed almost instantly.
Despite some protection
by the car's airbag,
Trevor still has severe facial injuries.
Diana is semiconscious and appears
relatively unharmed.
Thirty seconds later, Rat and Darmon
are the first to arrive.
RAT: At that very moment, I was shocked
because it wasn't a nice sight
I walked back for a few seconds.
NARRATOR: His actions will later cause
worldwide revulsion.
(CLICKING)
RAT: Whilst running towards the car,
1 had taken two photos.
I took a third when I walked back
after seeing Al Fayed in the car.
All this lasted less than
about ten seconds.
NARRATOR:
Rat doesn't call the emergency services,
as he thinks he hears
someone else doing it
But as he has first-aid qualifications,
he takes Diana's pulse,
speaking to her in English.
Be cool, doctor is arriving,
doctor is arriving.
(SIRENS WAILING)
NARRATOR: Dr Frédéric Mailliez
is travelling home in the opposite
direction when he sees the car.
Several of the pursuing paparazzi
have just arrived.
He immediately realises
the seriousness of the accident
and calls the emergency services.
(SPEAKING IN FRENCH)
DR MAILLIEZ: There was
a smell of blood, fuel and burning.
I began examining
the young woman in the back.
I could see she was beautiful but, at
that stage, had no idea who she was.
NARRATOR: Dr Mailliez
is aware of the photographers
but they don't get in the way.
As the woman has no
obvious severe external injuries,
Dr Mailliez thinks she has
a good chance of survival
When the emergency services arrive,
he continues his journey home.
(SIREN WAILING)
Before today,
Stephane Darmon had never driven
for the paparazzi,
let alone witnessed such a scene.
DARMON: I felt bitter
towards the photographers,
because I could not
stand them taking photos.
The tunnel was lit up with flashes.
Already some of the photographers
are en route to their picture agencies.
Soon, images of the crash
will be offered to newspapers
around the world
for hundreds of thousands of pounds.
Diana is finally taken by ambulance
from the Alma Tunnel
Doctors have spent almost an hour
at the scene trying to stabilise her.
This is the normal procedure in France.
Her condition is far more serious
than Dr Mailliez realised.
She has severe internal haemorrhaging
and suffers a heart attack.
Diana's two sons,
William and Harry, are at Balmoral
for the Royal Family's
annual summer holiday.
At 1:00, there's a telephone call
from Paris.
It's taken by the Queen's
deputy private secretary, Robin Janvrin.
He's told that Dodi is reported dead,
while Diana has been badly injured.
Diana has now arrived at
the Pitié-Salpétriere Hospital Paris
and has had a second cardiac arrest.
The doctors are preparing to operate.
At Balmoral, the Queen
and Prince Charles are woken up.
But until there's more news,
the decision is taken
to leave the boys to sleep.
The BBC breaks the news in the middle of
its late film Borsalino.
We interrupt this film to tell you
we are getting reports
that Diana, Princess of Wales,
has been badly injured
in a car crash in France.
NARRATOR: The channel stays on the air,
transmitting its International
24-hour news service
on BBC One for the first time
MAN ON TV:
Diana, Princess of Wales, has been
NARRATOR: The initial reports
of the crash are confused.
MAN: badly damaged.
She has been taken to hospital
We don't at the moment know
which hospital she is in,
nor do we know
the extent of her injuries.
WOMAN ON TV: What they're saying is the
Princess is in the intensive care unit
of a south-east Paris hospital
She has concussion, a broken arm and
apparently serious cuts to her thigh
MALE REPORTER: I'm worried
by the lack of any news
or the lack of any statement.
One wonders if one is being told
the whole truth at the moment.
NARRATOR:
Despite massive infections of adrenaline
and continued cardiac massage,
the medical team are unable
to make Diana's heart beat unaided.
In the operating theatre
of the Pitié-Salpetriére Hospital,
Diana, Princess of Wales,
is pronounced dead.
Time of death is recorded as 4:00 a.m.
Rat and Darmon are arrested along with
five other members of the paparazzi.
They are charged with involuntary
manslaughter and falling to help
at the scene of an accident,
under France's Good Samaritan law.
Their cameras, film and motorbikes
are all confiscated.
In a rare show of restraint,
picture editors who have learnt
of Diana's death
are beginning to decline
the photographs of the accident
that have made it onto the wires.
Dr Frédéric Mailliez rises early
on Sunday morning to start work.
He is totally unaware of the news
events that have unfolded overnight
(MUSIC PLAYING ON TV)
(SPEAKING FRENCH)
He discovers the woman he treated
last night in the Alma tunnel
was Diana, Princess of Wales,
and that she has died,
despite his initial
optimistic prognosis.
(SPEAKING IN FRENCH)
During the next few days,
he will be besieged by journalists
offering huge sums of money
for Diana's last words.
DR MAILLIEZ: I began to feel a little
as she must have felt
I could not go anywhere without being
followed, pestered and bullied.
You get very paranoid indeed.
NARRATOR: As the rest of the world
wakes to the news of Diana's death,
it's immediately assumed that
the crash was caused by the paparazzi
chasing the car at high speed.
They Killed Diana.
(CHATTERING)
It's my fault, it's everybody's fault.
(INCOHERENT CHATTERING)
It would appear that every proprietor
and editor of every publication
that has paid for intrusive and
exploitative photographs of her,
encouraging greedy and ruthless
individuals to risk everything
in pursuit of Diana's image,
has blood on his hands today.
NARRATOR:
A post mortem Will later reveal
that the Ritz security manager,
Henri Paul,
was three times over
the legal alcohol limit
Romuald Rat, Stéphane Darmon
and the remaining paparazzi
are eventually cleared of all charges.
Rat's photographs of the crash
are never published.
Despite a nationwide search,
the white Flat Uno is never found.
The only man able to shed light
on exactly what happened
during the three-minute car journey
from the Ritz to the Alma tunnel
is the sole survivor,
bodyguard Trevor Rees-jones.
He will recover from his injuries,
but his memory will remain blank from
the moment he stepped into the car.
In June 1953,
television had ignited the nation's
enchantment with its new monarch.
Today, August 31st, 1997,
media intrusion is blamed for killing
the nation's Queen of Hearts.