August 31, 2022 marks the 25th anniversary of the death of Princess Diana, who died in a tragic car accident in Paris, France. Decades later, the French doctor who was among the first to arrive at the scene of the accident, in the Alma tunnel in Paris on August 31, 1997, recalled the last moments of the Princess of Wales. Frederic Mailliez spoke of the realization that he was one of the last people to see Diana alive. “I realize that my name will always be associated with this tragic night,” he told The Associated Press. Mailliez, who was driving home in the tunnel when he spotted a smoking Mercedes nearly split in two, said: “I feel a bit responsible for her last moments.” “I walked towards the wreckage. I opened the door and looked in,” he said. Mailliez recalled seeing “four people, two of them obviously dead, no reaction, not breathing and the other two, on the right side, alive but in serious condition.” While the passenger was screaming, Mailliez saw him breathing. “But the female passenger, the young lady, was kneeling on the floor of the Mercedes, her head down. He was having trouble breathing. He needed help fast.” He ran to his car to call emergency services and grab a breathing bag. “She was unconscious. He regained a little more energy, but he couldn’t say anything.” He later found out in the news—along with the rest of the world—that the woman he nursed was Lady Diana. “I know it’s amazing, but I didn’t recognize Princess Diana,” she said. The doctor immediately called an ambulance. “I tried to comfort her,” he recalls. He also noted that paparazzi gathered at the scene to document the accident. Firefighters arrived quickly and Diana was taken to a Paris hospital, where she died a few hours later. Her partner Dodi Fayed and the driver also died.
