Lady Diana – Top Secret. Sergio Felleti

Saturday, August 30, around 7:35 pm: Upon the couple's arrival on Rue Arsène-Houssaye, a further experience awaits them. A mob of onlookers and paparazzi are waiting for them right outside the door of Dodi's apartment. The Mercedes carrying Diana tries to get closer to the main entrance. Apart from the same security agents who travelled with Dodi and Diana, there seems not to be other security men waiting for them, to assist them or to find them a way through the crowd, or a corridor to the entrance.

      After parking the vehicle, Trevor Rees-Jones opens the rear door of the Mercedes, Diana gets out, and she has just the time to touch the ground and get up on her own feet, then she is immediately pressed between the mass of people, which touches her and pushes her from every direction.

      Suddenly, a photographer emerges out of the agitated mob pushing his way through it, he audaciously rushes towards Diana and Dodi to take pictures of the couple. Some witnesses will later say that it was the paparazzi Romuald Rat, a 25 year old of a bulky and strong build. The two finally manage to enter Dodi's apartment, where they will stay until 9:35 pm.

      1997 Saturday, August 30, 9:35 pm: For the couple it is time to dine at Chez Benoît Restaurant, as previously established by the appointment taken that same afternoon at Ritz. They exit the apartment on Rue Arsène-Houssaye and take sit in that same Mercedes that picked them up from the Bourget airport earlier that day. Dodi tells his driver Trevor Rees-Jones, and another bodyguard sitting next to him, to leave in a hurry, but he does not reveal them accurately where he would like to be taken, even the bodyguard Kez Wingfield and the other security agent accompanying them on a second vehicle are aware of it.

      The Mercedes dives into the crowd anyway, around Diana's vehicle, again, there is a buzz of pedestrians, cars, motorcycles and scooters chasing them, honking and constantly approaching the car, slamming their hands on the body and on the glasses, taking pictures, shouting the name of Diana and whatnot. Also along the edges of the secondary roads there are groups of people observing this long and noisy parade.

      All of a sudden Dodi tells Trevor to go on Avenue des Champs-Elysées. Over here the congestion is even bigger, the Mercedes is surrounded by many curious and it is barely able to move forward. However, Dodi calls the Ritz and orders his utmost faithful employee: Claude Roulet, manager of Hotel Ritz, to notify the Chez Benoît so that they can arrange a welcome with all the honours, fit for the Princess of Wales. Dodi also asks the manager Roulet to call Henry Paul and to reach him immediately.

      After ending the call, Dodi refers Trevor to go to Chez Benoît Restaurant, the bistro on Rue Saint Martin. Shortly after, while the Mercedes is still going, with all the traffic problems caused by the screaming crowd around the vehicle, Dodi, taken by surprise by an angry panic attack, seems to want to suddenly change his mind. The situation is completely out of control.

      The mob overcrowding the street scream and clap their hands on the roof and the windows of the Mercedes. The car is constantly blocked by pedestrians, by other cars, by onlookers and by paparazzi. Despite the many reversals driving, the Mercedes does not get anywhere.

      The chasing by paparazzi with their cars and motorbikes is becoming more and more obstinate and unbearable; therefore, at some point, considering the continuous insistence and strong complaint of Diana, Dodi decides to cancel everything and to go back to the Ritz. The appointment falls through, they will have dinner at Espadon, the luxurious restaurant inside the Ritz.

      1997 Saturday, August 30, around 9:45 pm: Some journalists have confirmed the following: «François Tendil, the man in charge of the evening and night security at the Ritz, contacted Henri Paul, who was off duty that night, and asked him to return immediately to the Ritz to join the team of security agents. The reason: Because of the multitude and the aggressiveness of paparazzi and onlookers that hinder every move of the couple, the four bodyguards have difficulty in protecting Princess Diana».

      1997 Saturday, August 30, 9:50 pm: In the meantime Diana and Dodi approach the main entrance of Ritz with their car. And even there, the entrance is packed with paparazzi and people who want to touch Diana.

      Besides the doorman (piccolò) and François Tendil, the guy in charge of the night security, there is no other agent to welcome and protect the couple escaping from the assault of the crowd. As soon as they get out of the Mercedes, two photographers appear and suddenly rush to Diana, physically sticking to her, annoying, pushing and bothering her, pestering her with their continuous flashes and filming. The situation is way out of control to be able to protect Diana's security, it is a total dangerous chaos. At this point, Dodi snaps in his anger rushing towards the two photographers, pushing them and making them get away from Diana; then, turning to François Tendil he shouts in French: «What are you doing? Not like this, this is shit!».

      Then later, Dodi addresses to another bodyguard, Kez Wingfield, who was in the Range Rover driving behind the Mercedes, and, shouting, he scolds him publicly asking: «Why did you not go in front of my Mercedes to clear the passage and to free the way from other vehicles, from the crowds and the sticky paparazzi?»

      In fact, Dodi reproaches him for not going ahead, on patrol at the crossroads to clear out the streets, so to identify and prepare the most appropriate areas or lanes that would have permitted the Mercedes to pass freely. «Between saying and doing...» Said Kez Wingfield «None of us agents knew where Dodi intended to go; he was constantly changing direction; we only had the Range Rover to support the Mercedes. There were no other security agents, we were too few».

      It was obvious that young Kez Wingfield was very demoralized by the rebuke given by Dodi in front of everyone.

      THE RETURN TO THE RITZ HOTEL

      Watching the movie that has been broadcast all around the world, filmed by the hotel cameras as they were passing through the revolving door of the main entrance of Ritz, you can respectively glimpse: Dodi, then Diana and finally Trevor Rees-Jones. A sense of distress and irritation is clearly visible on Diana's face, she is annoyed by that Parisian afternoon that she did not even want. They have done all that just to get back to the starting point. Diana does not feel safe with the security service arranged by the young and rich Arabic emir.

      Diana probably thought to herself that the protection service was nothing compared to the great safety she could have been provided with the numerous officers of the Parisian police. The Parisian police would have accompanied Diana everywhere and with everyone she would have desired, in the same way they would have acted with Heads of State and Diplomatic Corps.

      Diana would have had squadron of armoured cars with several national security agents, policemen and army personnel; these would have initially blocked all intersections of the roads to be crossed with armoured cars, and they would have formed a wall of armed men and armoured vehicles to ensure maximum protection to Diana, both inside and outside of her accommodation. With the police by her side nobody, neither paparazzi nor onlookers would have dared to approach the Princess if she would not have explicitly required.

      In reality, the Lady believed and hoped that the Fayeds could offer her enough protection beside wealth, and not only temporarily, but everlasting. The playboy Dodi Al-Fayed, instead, was a young and rich spendthrift, a half junkie with a chaotic temper who loved and practised frivolous and shameless nightlife; therefore he would have not been up to fulfil eventual or controversial tantrums of the Princess. Furthermore Dodi was surrounded by “so called friends” of the late night, dangerous people without any morality or compassion, rich spoiled people wickedly uncontrollable, every wishes of theirs was fulfilled by Dodi.

      So Diana found herself in the middle of bad company, she was not even protected morally. Several members of the Ritz personnel stated: «Some of Dodi's alleged business friends were playful, ruthless and without conscience. It is also likely that Diana sensed that they wished to have sex with her, maybe with drugs involved, and that Dodi would have not had any chances nor power to deny and to protect her, so that it would not happen».

      Diana was aware of the possible danger, she would have never approved of this sort of free lust and she would absolutely not allow it to happen. From this moment her only goal was to have dinner at the hotel and to go to sleep,