PERCHED on the edge of the Jonikal yacht, overlooking the Ligurian Sea, Princess Diana reflected on what a whirlwind 1997 had been.
Set back by short-lived romances and a murder of a close A-list pal, nothing could have prepared the Princess of Wales for what would be her last summer.
On the fateful eve of August 31, 1997, the people’s princess was killed alongside Dodi Al-Fayed in the Paris Pont de l’Alma tunnel crash.
Now, her tumultuous final days have now been laid bare in season six of The Crown, which dropped on Netflix this week.
The explosive drama’s opening scene begins with the notorious paparazzi chase in France and finishes with a horror crash sound.
The next four episodes then attempt to depict what led up to the tragedy.
For royal expert Phil Dampier, author of Diana: I’m Going To Be Me: The People’s Princess In Her Own Words, it was an extremely complex time.
He told The Sun: “The Crown and many other books and films have been able to speculate about Diana’s last weeks because there were so many contradictions and no one knows the full truth.”
Dying at the young age of 36 in such gut-wrenching fashion meant Diana’s flaws were mostly forgotten, according to Phil.
He added: “The truth is that Diana was a very complex and damaged person because of her childhood and her parents’ divorce.
“We remember the amazing work she did with AIDS and landmines, but in her final years her personal life was a total mess.
“She embarked on a series of reckless affairs, some with married men like art dealer Oliver Hoare.”
One of the settings for season six is St Tropez, where The Crown attempts to recreate the Al-Fayed family yacht trip to the south of France.
Elizabeth Debicki, who plays Diana, is seen wearing the iconic neon blue one-piece and enjoying her time with friends and family.
The mother-of-two famously brought her children, Prince William and Prince Harry, along for the week-long glamour getaway.
According to royal photographer and Sun man Arthur Edwards, for the most part it was all smiles.
He told a Channel 5 documentary: “They were swimming a lot together. They were going on the jet skis. They went off on the yacht somewhere for the day. They had a fun time.
“It was the life the rich and famous live and she was getting some of it.”
In July of 1997, Diana was dealt a heartbreaking blow when her close pal Gianni Versace died.
She was reportedly on holiday when she received the call that the Italian fashion designer had been murdered outside his Miami mansion – shot dead by Andrew Cunanan.
Paul Burrell, a former butler, believes she was never able to shrug off the horrific murder.
He said: “It deeply moved her. This was only months before she died herself.
“Here she was sat at Gianni’s funeral. She couldn’t quite comprehend it.
“Death seemed to haunt her towards the end of her life.
“She was so consumed by thinking it might happen to her.”
In the 2022 documentary, Diana: The Ultimate Truth, journalist Mark Williams-Thomas analysed the late princess’ final summer.
He interviewed another close pal of Diana’s, Roberto Devorik, who echoed the claims about her ominous thoughts.
Roberto said: “She had the premonition she would be killed or die… not in a natural way.
“She would say ‘I think they are going to kill me. I am going to finish in an accident — helicopter, plane or car crash’.”
The latest season of The Crown puts a lot of focus on Diana’s budding romance with Dodi Al-Fayed (Khalid Abdalla).
Viewers are told the love affair had been masterminded by Dodi’s dad, Mohamed, an Egyptian billionaire who longed approval of Britain’s elite.
However, Phil claimed there was more on the late princess’ mind than just an overbearing dad.
He said: “The man she really wanted to marry was Pakistani heart surgeon Hasnat Khan.
“Their romance had ended shortly before her last summer because he didn’t want a life in the spotlight.”
He added: “Diana took her sons on holiday with the Fayeds because they had the ‘toys’ of a yacht and security to protect them.”
In episode three, The Crown imagines Dodi proposing to Diana with a ring he buys earlier that day.
Prior to that moment, there’s also a scene where Diana tells her boys that she has no plans to marry him, despite rumours in the newspapers, before rejecting him.
Phil said the proposal rumours were murky – as were suggestions by Mohamed Al-Fayed she may have been pregnant.
He added: “Diana’s friend Rosa Monckton, who went on a girls’ Greek holiday with her, said Diana told her she would put any ring Dodi gave her on her right hand.
“But she also told her inquest a letter from Diana to Dodi did show they were in love.
“Diana did have a slightly bulging tummy through her leopard skin swimsuit, but the inquest was told she definitely wasn’t pregnant.”
Ever since the tragic Paris tunnel disaster, a plethora of conspiracy theories emerged – pointing fingers in all directions, most notably at the Royal Family.
Patrick Jephson, former equerry and private secretary to Diana, watched the CCTV footage of her final moments at the Ritz hotel.
Patrick remarked: “I remember being asked to watch a very harrowing tape. One of the last tapes from the security cameras in Paris.
“I thought I know that look. That body language. That hunched protective stance she was in. She was not happy. You could tell from her expression even in those last shots she was unhappy.
“There was something not right. She knew when things were not running properly, I have a horrid feeling she was already feeling unsafe.”
It was only two years earlier in a 1995 BBC Panorama interview that Diana revealed her fractured relationship with the Royal family.
Questioned if she thought the royals were trying to remove her, Diana replied: “She won’t go quietly, that’s the problem.
“I’ll fight to the end… because I believe that I have a role to fulfil and I’ve got two children to bring up.”
Phil scorned the theory that Diana’s death was an ‘inside job’.
He said: “It’s not true that Charles invited the Queen to Camilla’s 50th birthday party – he knew it was too soon.
“Diana’s death put back the campaign to get Camilla accepted as a future Queen by several years, another reason I don’t believe she was murdered.”
On December 14, part two of the last season of The Crown will be available for streaming.
It is believed it will focus on Prince William’s journey and the aftermath of Diana’s death.
If the former Princess of Wales was still alive, Phil said Diana would have likely carried on being the loving mother she was.
He added: “Diana might have been happily remarried and taken her place in Westminster Abbey to see Charles and Camilla wed.
“But it all ended on that fateful night in Paris.”
