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Ed Does anyone here believe that Princess Diana's car crash was suspicious?

Jack by the hedge said:
It's not clear to me whether these large sums (was it 8,000 3 months in a row?) were cash deposits by Paul himself or payments from someone else. If they were considered potentially suspicious* then I'd expect the authorities to have follow up who paid them unless it was cash deposited by Paul himself.

I'm sure his job would have been an ideal position for a bit of drug dealing or pimping to wealthy clients, which would explain large amounts of cash. I'm less convinced the pampered guests at the Paris Ritz often find they have a craving for weapons. I'm not sure what lucrative thing he might have done as an "undercover operative". That sounds rather like a movie playing in your head, I'm afraid.

I've already asked but let's try again: Do you suppose that spies are especially highly paid?

* I vaguely remember there's a threshold amount where banks report on large cash payments or transfers. Might be $10,000 in the US, that sort of amount. If he was depositing multiple sums a bit less than that it might well be to avoid attracting attention.
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Here are some payscales, depending on what you do: https://uk.talent.com/salary?job=mi5#:~:text=Find out what the average Mi5 salary is&text=The average mi5 salary in,to £49,014 per year.

Wouldn't surprise me if shifty character Fayed had something to do with the deposits. If we imagine income tax of say 30% on the inflation-adiusted figure, that's £14,286 pcm. Not bad for a chauffeur.
 
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Jack by the hedge said:
Exactly. Whether the Merc hit a white Fiat because it lost control or lost control because it was hit by a white Fiat is just speculation.
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Actually, of all the speculation surrounding the crash, I find it genuinely strange that they never identified the Fiat, which obviously got out of dodge right pronto. They questioned a likely suspect, but French investigators ruled him out. I'm not sure what to think on that. Spitballing, maybe the guy questioned wasn't the driver at the time, and someone who would be in major personal trouble if identified was? I can't think of any other reason why the Fiat driver (who by now must know it was him) would stay clammed up for decades unless the consequences of him coming forward would be horrific.
 
Thermal said:
Actually, of all the speculation surrounding the crash, I find it genuinely strange that they never identified the Fiat, which obviously got out of dodge right pronto. They questioned a likely suspect, but French investigators ruled him out. I'm not sure what to think on that. Spitballing, maybe the guy questioned wasn't the driver at the time, and someone who would be in major personal trouble if identified was? I can't think of any other reason why the Fiat driver (who by now must know it was him) would stay clammed up for decades unless the consequences of him coming forward would be horrific.
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It's easy to see how someone would want to keep their name (and to some, responsibility) out of a tragedy that gripped the nation. I can't even imagine what it would be like in the modern social media age.
 
Well, if they were drunk, or uninsured or had no license or simply feared they might get blamed, they might keep their mouth shut. I'm not sure it's even clear just when this paint-swapping scrape happened. I've seen Parisians park and unpark their cars and they seem to judge distance by feel.
 
Thermal said:
Actually, of all the speculation surrounding the crash, I find it genuinely strange that they never identified the Fiat, which obviously got out of dodge right pronto. They questioned a likely suspect, but French investigators ruled him out. I'm not sure what to think on that. Spitballing, maybe the guy questioned wasn't the driver at the time, and someone who would be in major personal trouble if identified was? I can't think of any other reason why the Fiat driver (who by now must know it was him) would stay clammed up for decades unless the consequences of him coming forward would be horrific.
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As I recall, the 'culprit' was supposedly found dead in a burnt out car.
 
I Am The Scum said:
It's easy to see how someone would want to keep their name (and to some, responsibility) out of a tragedy that gripped the nation. I can't even imagine what it would be like in the modern social media age.
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The driver beating feet immediately, I can see. He wouldn't have immediately known who the occupants of the Mercedes were at the time, and if the Fiat driver had warrants or whatever out on him, OK, I can see him wanting to get scarce at the time.

But that the French were never able to identify the car (positively), I do find that screwy. This was not a run of the mill fender bender. No one noticed, not the people who repaired the damage, no one? While I'm not familiar with the statute of limitations in France, whatever the driver was afraid of would likely no longer be an issue, and surely to assist in the investigation, he could offer himself to authorities on the condition of anonymity?

Based on the limited available information, only very incidental contact was made. No parts from the Fiat laying around, just a paint scuff. And the driver was seen racing out of that tunnel. So presumably, he was just tagged by the speeding Mercedes, either before or during the crash, maybe while the Mercedes was swerving to avoid him.
 
Vixen said:
As I recall, the 'culprit' was supposedly found dead in a burnt out car.
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Wikipedia and others have him as still being alive, and his friends and family have been saying lately that his story doesn't add up anymore. Since the French didn't publish their investigation in full, we don't know why the suspect Fiat owner was ruled out. I guess he had an alibi that checked out, but that doesn't mean someone else wasn't driving his car.
 
Jack by the hedge said:
Well, if they were drunk, or uninsured or had no license or simply feared they might get blamed, they might keep their mouth shut. I'm not sure it's even clear just when this paint-swapping scrape happened. I've seen Parisians park and unpark their cars and they seem to judge distance by feel.
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The French interviewed several witnesses who claimed to see a white Fiat Uno leaving the tunnel immediately after the crash, with the driver looking in his mirrors behind him. This was before the paint scuff was even known to exist.
 
Vixen said:
Here are some payscales, depending on what you do: https://uk.talent.com/salary?job=mi5#:~:text=Find out what the average Mi5 salary is&text=The average mi5 salary in,to £49,014 per year.

Wouldn't surprise me if shifty character Fayed had something to do with the deposits. If we imagine income tax of say 30% on the inflation-adiusted figure, that's £14,286 pcm. Not bad for a chauffeur.
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A quick Google suggests inflation since 1997 has very roughly doubled prices. So Henri Paul had the equivalent of over 3 years median spy salary deposited in the bank. I don't think spying was how he was making his money. Nor chauffeuring.

I think playing family-minder in the daytime and supplying various whims in the evening for wealthy hotel guests would pay better, in nicely anonymous cash. Maybe the odd tipoff to favoured paparazzi made it worthwhile playing both sides now and then. No particular need for shifty Fayed to be involved as a middle man. Just a bit of private enterprise. Keep the guests happy.
 
Jack by the hedge said:
A quick Google suggests inflation since 1997 has very roughly doubled prices. So Henri Paul had the equivalent of over 3 years median spy salary deposited in the bank. I don't think spying was how he was making his money. Nor chauffeuring.

I think playing family-minder in the daytime and supplying various whims in the evening for wealthy hotel guests would pay better, in nicely anonymous cash. Maybe the odd tipoff to favoured paparazzi made it worthwhile playing both sides now and then. No particular need for shifty Fayed to be involved as a middle man. Just a bit of private enterprise. Keep the guests happy.
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If he got tips then the sums would vary but he appears to have been on some kind of retainer.

According to the Irish Times, Sept 1997:

Paul rose to deputy head of security at the Ritz, with an annual salary of £24,000 and 20 employees under his orders. He supervised the installation of security cameras in the hotel's halls and lifts and, according to one employee, even hid one in the kitchen clock.

Other employees considered Paul a spy for Frank Klein, the Ritz's director and, according to Paris Match, Paul had several employees fired for indiscretion. The magazine says that Paul is listed by French domestic intelligence, the Renseignements Generaux, as an occasional informer. Other reports say he kept an eye on suspicious foreigners for the authorities. His relations with the local police commissariat were so cosy that he got friends' traffic tickets annulled in exchange for a little foie gras from the Ritz.
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He was an employee, was he not? With an annual salary. Is that what you mean by "some kind of retainer"? The cash he had in the bank strongly suggests that was not his only source of income.

Everyone can use their own definition of course but I don't see the remarks of fellow employees, saying they regarded him as a spy for the hotel's director, as meaning Paul was "a spy".

Anyway, it probably doesn't matter that there's no evidence tying Paul to spies because it hardly seems likely he was "in on it" even if there had been some plausible "it" to be in on. He was driving drunk, not wearing his seatbelt, crashed the car and died. If anyone wants to speculate he did that acting under orders, the floor is yours.
 
Jack by the hedge said:
Well, if they were drunk, or uninsured or had no license or simply feared they might get blamed, they might keep their mouth shut. I'm not sure it's even clear just when this paint-swapping scrape happened. I've seen Parisians park and unpark their cars and they seem to judge distance by feel.
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Not just when parking. Merging, negotiating roundabouts, indicating turns...
 
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