EXCLUSIVE: Inside the 'Violent Bust-Up' Princess Diana Had With 'Lover' Dodi Fayed Hours Before Their Horrific Deaths
Princess Diana is believed to have had a violent fight with her boyfriend before her death.
Oct. 29 2025, Published 5:40 p.m. ET
RadarOnline.com can reveal Princess Diana's final hours were marked by tension and fear, with royal biographer Judy Wade revealing the late Princess of Wales had a "violent disagreement" with her boyfriend, Dodi Al Fayed, just hours before the Paris car crash that claimed both their lives.
On August 30, 1997, the day before the fatal accident, the couple had already been pursued through the streets of Paris by paparazzi.
Princess Diana’s Final Days of Freedom Revealed
PDiana argued with Al Fayed hours before the crash.
According to Wade, Al Fayed, frustrated by the photographers, told his driver to accelerate to escape them, prompting a desperate plea from Diana to slow down.
"Diana and Dodi had a violent disagreement," Wade claimed. "Diana begged Dodi to slow down. By the time she arrived at the villa, it was obvious she was upset. She was crying and had been genuinely frightened for her own safety and that of the paparazzi. It was a chilling portent of what would happen later on that night."
At the time of her death at age 36, Diana was in the midst of a new chapter. One year after finalizing her divorce from Prince Charles, she was starting a new life. She had spent much of that summer traveling – from Washington, D.C., to New York, and then to St. Tropez – and was eager to enjoy her newfound independence.
A Romance Fueled by Escape and Attention
Diana is believed to have begged Al Fayed to slow down as paparazzi chased their car.
Following her breakup with heart surgeon Hasnat Khan, "she felt her life was amiss, and she was depressed," Wade claimed. Mohamed Al Fayed, Dodi's father, had invited Diana and her sons, Prince William and Prince Harry, to his villa in St. Tropez the July before her death, where she met the tycoon's playboy son.
What began as a casual summer romance quickly turned into a media spectacle, with gifts sent to Kensington Palace including a huge box of tropical fruit, a roomful of pink roses, and a Cartier panther watch.
"Dodi became Diana's distraction," Wade said.
Cracks Behind the Glamor
Friends said Dodi became a distraction after her breakup with Hasnat Khan.
Wade also noted Dodi's wealth and lifestyle gave him a certain allure.
"Dodi had private jets and yachts at his disposal," she said. "St. Tropez in the summer is the haunt of the British paparazzi. Perhaps Diana wanted to be photographed frolicking with Dodi to make Hasnat pay for their recent rows."
But those close to the Princess doubted the relationship was destined for permanence.
Wade claimed Diana herself told a confidante, "I need marriage like a hole in the head."
A Chilling Prelude to Tragedy
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Diana told a confidante she didn’t want to marry again.
On their final day together, Diana and Dodi visited the former home of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor – the Paris residence once owned by King Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson, which Mohamed Al Fayed had purchased. During the trip, they were again pursued by paparazzi, leading to the heated exchange Wade described.
When they arrived at the villa, "Diana didn't even venture upstairs," Wade claimed, citing testimony from bodyguard Philippe Dourneau.
The biographer added: "She seemed to want to get away. They didn't hold hands. They seemed like acquaintances."
