British pathologist Richard Shepherd has revealed that Princess Diana suffered a relatively limited physical injury, but one located in an extremely sensitive area — and that how it was handled at the scene may have been a decisive factor in her death.
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Shepherd, who has conducted more than 23,000 autopsies, explained that Diana suffered minor fractures and a chest injury, alongside a small tear in a vein inside the lung — the bleeding that later caused her condition to deteriorate.
He said the princess gradually lost consciousness inside the ambulance before suffering cardiac arrest. Despite resuscitation efforts, she underwent surgery at the hospital to locate the source of the bleeding and repair the vein, but her condition had already deteriorated significantly by then.
The pathologist noted that this type of injury is extremely rare, saying he had encountered almost no similar case throughout his entire career.
Shepherd believes Diana's chances of survival might have been better had she been transported to the hospital more quickly, noting that paramedics initially believed she was injured but stable, particularly since she was still able to speak and communicate.
This assessment has raised questions about the medical response to the crash: heart surgeon Christiaan Barnard argued that the internal bleeding would not have stopped on its own, and that rapid surgical intervention was essential.
Diana, then 36, died in the early hours of August 31, 1997, after the car carrying her and Dodi Fayed crashed inside a tunnel in Paris.
Fayed and driver Henri Paul died at the scene, while Diana was taken to hospital, where she died hours later from her injuries.
