Restoration 10:10

An inquest has ruled that Princess Diana and her lover Dodi al-Fayed were unlawfully killed by the grossly negligent driving of their chauffeur and paparazzi photographers pursuing them into a Paris road tunnel 10 years ago. Mr al Fayed has long believed that the Duke of Edinburgh and MI6 murdered the couple through a staged crash. It seems to me that everyone is to blame for Diana and Dodi’s death other than the happy couple themselves.

But could Diana and Dodi be partly to blame? If Diana had been wearing her seat-belt the injuries which she sustained in the crash may not have been fatal. And if Henri Paul was as drunk as the forensic tests and CCTV evidence suggests any reasonable person would not have got into the car with him. The passengers must have smelt the alcohol on his breath. Unbuckled seat-belts and the willingness to get into a car with a drunk driver will in a court of law be defined as contributory negligence. Diana could have taken some reasonable precautions towards her own safety in this matter. But how many times have we not fastened our seatbelts? How many times have we gotten into a car with a driver who has consumed alcohol? As I look back over the years that thought sends a shudder down my spine. Let’s take all reasonable precautions when we are out on the roads. It may save us from sharing the same fate as Dodi and Dianna.