Diksha Sundriyal
Being one of the most popular public figures in history, Princess Diana has been the subject of several controversial conspiracy theories surrounding her life and death. The sixth season of Netflix’s ‘The Crown’ focuses on the days before the princess’s death and, later, gives the audience an insight into the inquiries that followed the events of her death to seek out any evidence of foul play. The show also acknowledges the claims made by Dodi’s father, Mohamed Al-Fayed, especially the one in which he says that Diana was pregnant with his grandchild. Is there any truth to it, or is it just another conspiracy theory?
There is No Evidence of Princess Diana’s Pregnancy When She Died
Mohamed Al-Fayed had been very keen about the relationship between his son Dodi and Princess Diana. He wished for Dodi and Diana to be married and was utterly heartbroken when his son and the princess died in a tragic car accident in Paris. However, years later, Al-Fayed fuelled the imagination of conspiracy theorists and claimed that it was no accident that claimed the couple’s life. It was murder, conspired by the British Intelligence with the knowledge of certain members of the royal family because they didn’t want Diana to end up with Dodi, who was a Muslim.
Moreover, Al-Fayed added that Diana was actually pregnant with Dodi’s child, which gave another reason for the Establishment to do away with her. He also named Prince Charles and Prince Phillip as the conspirators behind Diana’s death, claiming that the princess had confided in him her fears of being assassinated. However, none of Al-Fayed’s claims have ever been proven, and they remain just that: claims and conspiracy theories.
Since the night of Diana’s death, several investigations have been conducted to confirm certain facts about that night. According to former royal coroner John Burton, who was there at the post-mortem examination, the princess was most certainly not pregnant. Robert Chapman, the pathologist who conducted the post-mortem, also stated that the princess showed no physical signs to prove that she was pregnant at the time of her death.
The examination of her womb and ovaries also didn’t show any signs, which means that she was either not pregnant or too early into her pregnancy (less than three weeks, that is). The investigators also talked thoroughly with the people closest to the princess, and it turned out that none of them had ever received any indication that she might be pregnant. Dodi’s personal masseuse and spiritual healer, Myriah Daniels, testified in the inquiry that the princess was on her period during the time she spent with Dodi on the yacht, which removes any possibility of pregnancy. According to another worker on the yacht, Deborah Gribble, there was an opened contraceptive pill packet in the Princess’ cabin.
Forensic scientist Professor Angela Gallop also backs the findings of the investigation and states clearly in her book, ‘When the Dogs Don’t Bark: A Forensic Scientist’s Search for the Truth,’ that the pregnancy rumors are completely baseless. Reportedly, the princess’ blood was obtained from the car, specifically from the footwell of the seat, to test for the hormones that are present in a pregnant woman. This was pre-transfusion blood, which leaves no room for error that it wasn’t Princess Diana’s blood. According to the findings, the hormone was not present in her blood.
All of this proves that Mohamed Al-Fayed’s claims surrounding Diana’s pregnancy are false. There are several other things that make his statements unjustified. He claimed that Diana told him about the pregnancy over the phone and that he was the only one she told. Considering that the princess had a lot of people closer to her than Al-Fayed, it doesn’t make sense that she wouldn’t confide such important news to anyone else. Moreover, the fact that Al-Fayed came out with the pregnancy claims more than three years after the princess’ death also makes one wonder about his timing. If it was true, why didn’t he come out about it earlier?
Al-Fayed’s claim that the royal family had a problem with Diana’s Muslim boyfriend and Muslim baby also seems unfounded, considering that the princess had dated another Muslim man, Hasnat Khan, before Dodi. The royal family had shown no signs of concern or otherwise about that, so why would they suddenly bother about Dodi?
While Al-Fayed’s claims have been repeatedly proven wrong, his words did ignite the conspiracy theories about the princess’ death, which persist even now. Over the years, a couple of people have come out with explosive new evidence that proves the truth in the pregnancy theory, but none of this “evidence” has been verified or validated by the authorities and the investigators.
One such theory claims that Diana really was pregnant at the time of her death but that the child was not Dodi’s but someone else’s, most probably Hasnat Khan’s. The theory claims that the princess was nine to ten weeks pregnant, and the timeline puts her with Khan at the time. Khan, however, has refuted the claims, saying that the princess was “very particular” about contraceptive pills even during the time she was with him, so it doesn’t make sense that she would be pregnant with his child or even Dodi’s child, for that matter.
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