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It remains one of the most tragic events in royal history – the death of Princess Diana in a high-speed car crash in Paris in 1997. Now it's being re-enacted on the small screen and family of Henri Paul, the driver of the doomed Mercedes, aren’t happy about it at all.
Henri’s family are appalled that the fatal crash will be depicted in graphic detail in season 6 of The Crown and have slammed Netflix for “raking over the bones” of the tragedy in the name of “entertainment”.
The latest instalment of the hit series re-enacts the crash that took place in the early hours of 31 August 1997 in the Pont de l’Alma tunnel and which claimed the lives of the princess; Henri; and Diana’s boyfriend, Egyptian film producer Dodi Fayed.
Now Henri’s brother, Alain Paul, is speaking out, saying filmmakers are “throwing Henri to the wolves”.
“I don’t want to have to see the wreckage of a car that my brother died in over and over again. It’s inhumane,” Alain told the MailOnline from his home in Lorient, France.
“This Netflix dramatisation of my brother's death is cruel to me and my family. They did not warn me they were going to bring this tragedy back into the spotlight again.”
“Yet again people are trying to profit from the death of my brother and of Princess Diana.”
In the subsequent inquest into the tragedy, a jury concluded that Henri drove recklessly while being chased by a posse of French paparazzi.
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Henri, a former French Air Force pilot, was also found to be under the influence of alcohol.
But his furious brother doesn't understand why all of this is being dredged up again.
“I don’t know how they can call this entertainment. For them it is simply business. And as it’s only business for them they should send me a cheque.”
“Every year it’s the same. At the end of August there is someone wanting to rake over the bones of the victims.
“Me and my family have had to learn to live with it. It destroyed my parents. But now they are dead and my brothers are dead, it is me that has to deal with it on my own.”
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“My brother has been passed off as a drunk, but it has never been acknowledged that Henri Paul was also a human being, someone who had a good life, friends, brothers and parents who loved him.”
According to reports, the makers of The Crown transported bits of a mangled Mercedes to Paris to film the tragic scenes.
“I think a lot of people will find it quite sick that they went into such detail to recreate how the car was smashed up. I think it is going to cause a lot of upset with the royal family,” a source dished.
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Netflix has previously said the exact moment of the crash will not be aired.
Meanwhile a former friend of Diana, Simone Simmons, says the show will force Harry and his brother, Prince William, to relive the most painful time of their lives.
“I think it’s disgusting and sick. Why are are they setting out to upset William and Harry?” she said in an interview with The Sun.
Sources: dailymail.co.uk, theguardian.com, mirror.co.uk
