UK Sceptics Please Help - Princess Di

[Foolmewunz]

CNN here (Hong Kong) ran a story on the anniversary of the death. Maybe 25% on remebrances and 75% on conspiracy.

I can only locate opinion blogs on the subject, and Wikipedia seems to have left it up in the air.

Is there a "Gravy" out there breaking down these theories into manageable components? I'm really having trouble wrapping my arms around this and I'd appreciate any source material anyone could direct me towards.

I live amongst a lot of British ex-pats, and have been a little surprised to hear a number of them espouse belief in what I had considered to be a CT. The most popular argument seeming to be 'the Royals did it'.

The only investigative piece I saw was the one on Discovery Channel. If you could get past the pandering* of the voice-over announcer, it actually did a pretty good job of debunking almost everything that the CTers were rallying behind.

*Pandering? The documentary was pretty good, as I mentioned, but the producers seemed to think they needed to spike the interest levels. After each segment, heading into commercial break, the voice-over would say something like, "So - the sounds heard that night clearly could have been just the echo in the tunnel..... BUT WAS THAT ALL?" Woooooooo. It was pretty pathetic - I kept wondering if they bought a good documentary and then futzed around with it.

 

[fsol]

The Daily Express newspaper in the UK will every once in a while lead with "Shocking new Evidence in Diana crash!" They just can't leave it alone for some reason.

http://www.express.co.uk/

 

[brodski]

The Daily Express newspaper in the UK will every once in a while lead with "Shocking new Evidence in Diana crash!" They just can't leave it alone for some reason.

http://www.express.co.uk/

It sells papers, and the headline is slightly more interesting than "Diana still dead after 9 years- exclusive"

 

[Shrinker]

I'm afraid I don't have details but I saw a very interesting documentary in the UK about this. They picked over all the claims and counter-claims and found the CT severely lacking, and (surprise surprise) founded on misquotes and distortions. The conclusion they reached was that the driving force behind all the conspiracy theories is Mohammed Al Fayed (sp?). They claimed that he was unwilling to face the guilt of having given them a drunk driver and so was desperately trying to pin blame on anyone else who came by. They showed how he had spent millions doing 'investigation' and making Loose Change style documentaries.

The documentary was probably shown on UK Channel 4, maybe as part of the Secret Histories series, but I can't be sure of that.

 

[mrfreeze]

If you happen to be able to remember the title of that at some point let me know, the g/f has been bugging me about this particular one for a while, and since I don't give a damn about the royal family I had nothing to throw at her to discredit it.

 

[Shrinker]

I think it was this
http://www.channel4.com/life/microsites/D/diana_conspiracy/

The blurb mentions an interview with the head of the investigation. I do remember a segment like that, and it was very revealing. ie. he didn't believe the things CTists were saying he believed.

 

[Mancman]

The most popular argument seeming to be 'the Royals did it'.

Yeah, apparently M16 carried it out because Diana was going to marry and/or was rumoured to be pregnant by Dodi Al Fayed, and the royals didn't want to be associated with a muslim.

Another mad theory I've heard is that she was murdered by a consortium of corporations that manufacture landmines, as she had campaigned against their use in third world countries.

 

[sophia8]

If you happen to be able to remember the title of that at some point let me know, the g/f has been bugging me about this particular one for a while, and since I don't give a damn about the royal family I had nothing to throw at her to discredit it.

Try this thread

 

[walthrup48]

The Daily Express newspaper in the UK will every once in a while lead with "Shocking new Evidence in Diana crash!" They just can't leave it alone for some reason.

http://www.express.co.uk/

God, if it was "once in a while" it might be bearable but it's closer to a front page article every week, excluding the "new revelations!" banner splashes advertising smaller articles which feature inbetween. See what I mean

I know of two Diana death conspiracy programmes that are rebroadcast infrequently. There's the channel 4 doc mentioned above (repeated earlier this week as it happens) and the Sky version (Who Killed Diana? Sky 3 tonight, 11pm).

Edit: I've just noticed that I've got a copy of the Diana Conspiracy in my "to watch" pile. I'll post a breakdown of the prog later tonight.

 

[Darat]

The Daily Express newspaper in the UK will every once in a while lead with "Shocking new Evidence in Diana crash!" They just can't leave it alone for some reason.

http://www.express.co.uk/

"once in while"!? Understatement of the week I think! Today's headline (noticed when I was filling the car up) "Justice for Diana" with big photo of her (before she died).

 

[brodski]

"once in while"!? Understatement of the week I think! Today's headline (noticed when I was filling the car up) "Justice for Diana" with big photo of her (before she died).

Just wait until next year

 

[Foolmewunz]

......M16.....

Well Prince Charlie himself wins this argument for me, even amongst bleary-eyed CTers in a pub! Nothing like a little irreverant mockery to back a drunk down from a dumb debating point.

Them: "The Queen had it done 'cuz she couldn't stand the embarassment..."
Me: To the tune of "If I Were a Rich Man"..... "I wish I was a Tam-pax...." "Yeah, if the Queen killed Di, what's she gonna do to Camilla - have her evaporated?"

Thanx thus far. I was kinda hoping, like I said, that you had a Gravy out there who'd just had enough of this crap and had shredded the bits into smaller bits. I'll go scrounging around some of the Who Kille Our Rose sites. There's always someone ready to debunk. You're English, after all!

 

[Gord_in_Toronto]

A Couple of Points on Diana's Death

I did a little bit of research shortly after her death on "pyschic" predictions of any problems predicted for her on that date. The best I could find was one that Charles would have a "bad hair day" on that day. I e-mailed my comment to the UK association of psychics (or what ever it is) and never got a response.

If the silly [Rule 8] had been wearing she seatbelt, she probably would be with us today.

Gord
-----------

 

[sleahead]

I ......If the silly [Rule 8] had been wearing she seatbelt, she probably would be with us today.

Gord
-----------

I was once asked, on another forum, if I believed Diana had been assasinated. I replied no and that it is a very strange assasination attempt that can be foiled by simply wearing your seatbelt. Within about a week afterwards, the Daily Express ran a "Diana's seatbelt sabotaged?" story. They must be watching me!

 

[walthrup48]

The programme points the finger squarely at Fayed for perpetuating the conspiracies surrounding Diana's death. Fayed apparently believes that the Royal Family had her bumped off, unable to accept that Willim and Harry could have a Muslim as a stepdad.

Fayed's claims that are examined in the prog:

Dodi and Diana were about to get engaged.
They were planning to buy a house together.
Diana was pregnant.
Henri Paul's blood samples were switched or tampered with.
There were inconsistencies in the carbon monoxide levels of Henri Paul's blood.
A flash seen before the accident could have contributed to its cause.
The untraced Fiat Uno was part of an assassination plot.
The ambulance took too long to get her to hospital.
More time should have given to the examination of the tunnel before it reopened.

I'll post more details later today.

 

[tkingdoll]

Bearing in mind that we will probably never know the truth behind that night's events, and bearing in mind that this particular tragedy only involved a few people, I'm not entirely convinced there's any harm in the Diana conspiracy theories. But maybe that's just my anti-monarchy bias creeping in. Maybe deep down I'm hoping if people believe it wuz the Queen wot dunnit, that's one step closer to abolishing her status.

 

[sillyhead]

I ran across some "interesting" stuff while roaming about (I can't say it was research, because it wasn't) reading stuff about the Gosch kid. And now I can post urls!!

http://www.rumormillnews.com/RAYE_LET_TO_MALACHI.htm


[FONT=TIMES NEW ROMAN, ARIAL,VERDANA,HELVETICA]"That fact that he is openly living with another woman while being married to me is not`my main concern right now. Another, even more sinister aspect has crept into this sordid tale. [/FONT]
[FONT=TIMES NEW ROMAN, ARIAL,VERDANA,HELVETICA]Someone is leaking information to an investigator in Chicago stating that an intelligence unit based in Bristol, England was behind the murder of Princess Diana. It is clear to me that someone is trying to set up my husband and his girlfriend as the assassins of Diana."
[/FONT]
[FONT=TIMES NEW ROMAN, ARIAL,VERDANA,HELVETICA]
Of course, this guy was also involved in October Surprise, "transporting whites," a lot of money laundering, test-piloting seeecret aircraft, highly skilled at mind control since a child, and the heir to a very complicated joining of two Royal Families. Oh, and he's one of Faction II, which is the Illuminati (I think. I'm a bit saturated at this point). Anyhow, fun to read.
[/FONT]

 

[fsol]

God, if it was "once in a while" it might be bearable but it's closer to a front page article every week, excluding the "new revelations!" banner splashes advertising smaller articles which feature inbetween. See what I mean

I know of two Diana death conspiracy programmes that are rebroadcast infrequently. There's the channel 4 doc mentioned above (repeated earlier this week as it happens) and the Sky version (Who Killed Diana? Sky 3 tonight, 11pm).

Edit: I've just noticed that I've got a copy of the Diana Conspiracy in my "to watch" pile. I'll post a breakdown of the prog later tonight.

Shows how much atttention I've been paying then.

 

[Shrinker]

Bearing in mind that we will probably never know the truth behind that night's events, and bearing in mind that this particular tragedy only involved a few people, I'm not entirely convinced there's any harm in the Diana conspiracy theories. But maybe that's just my anti-monarchy bias creeping in. Maybe deep down I'm hoping if people believe it wuz the Queen wot dunnit, that's one step closer to abolishing her status.

People cling to their CTs for different reasons. Hoping the Monarchy will abolish itself is one that, as you imply, is quite harmless. However I used to work with a muslim guy who used to pass around the 'killed because she was converting to islam' quite frequently. He'd got it from his muslim friends, and if his visible anger was anything to go by thos guys were cooking up an awful lot of resentment over virtually nothing. I'm sure you can see how misinformation like that could be used to manipulate impressionable young muslims.

 

[valis]

People cling to their CTs for different reasons. Hoping the Monarchy will abolish itself is one that, as you imply, is quite harmless. However I used to work with a muslim guy who used to pass around the 'killed because she was converting to islam' quite frequently. He'd got it from his muslim friends, and if his visible anger was anything to go by thos guys were cooking up an awful lot of resentment over virtually nothing. I'm sure you can see how misinformation like that could be used to manipulate impressionable young muslims.

Actually it is understandable why people stick to these theories. At least a plausible motive can be found in this case. The next King being raised in a Muslim household is not a totally absurd reason for a assination plot.

Similarly when an avowed communist that defected to the USSR and then returned to the US shoots the president, it is only natural to look for something fishy.

I am not saying that there is any proof just that you can at least construct a plausible scenario.

Unlike certain other CTs that I can't see any coherant reason for.