EXCLUSIVE: Secrets of Princess Diana's Final Words Revealed — By Firefighter Who Held Her Hand as Life Ebbed Away After Paris Car Smash
A firefighter revealed Diana’s final words as he held her hand after the Paris car crash.
Sept. 5 2025, Published 1:00 p.m. ET
Princess Diana's final words have been revealed by the firefighter who held her hand in the wreckage of the Paris car crash that claimed her life 28 years ago, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
The 36-year-old princess was killed on August 31, 1997, after the car carrying her and her companion Dodi Fayed, 42, smashed into the Pont de l'Alma tunnel. Their driver, Henri Paul, was also killed.
Firefighter Reveals Princess Diana's Final Words
Diana asked, 'My God, what’s happened?' moments after the Paris accident.
First responders rushed to the scene, where firefighter Xavier Gourmelon was among the first to reach the wreckage – not realizing the "blonde woman" in the back of the mangled wreck of her car was one of the most famous women in the world.
"When I first saw her, she was conscious and her eyes were open," Gourmelon said. "She asked me, 'My God, what's happened?'"
"I held her hand and told her to stay calm, that we were there to help. She seemed stable at that moment, and I didn't think her life was in danger. But just minutes later, she went into cardiac arrest."
Rescuer Recalls Trying To Save Diana's Life
She was taken to Pitié-Salpêtrière hospital but pronounced dead at 4am.
Gourmelon performed CPR and massaged Diana's heart before she began breathing again.
"It was a relief – I thought we had saved her," he recalled. "As far as I knew when she left in the ambulance, she was alive."
"I only learned later at the hospital that she had died, and that was very hard to take. I now know her internal injuries were far worse than anyone could see at the scene."
Diana was taken to the Pitié-Salpêtrière hospital in Paris, where doctors fought to save her, but she was pronounced dead at 4am local time.
The news rocked the world and triggered an unprecedented outpouring of grief.
Crowds gathered outside Kensington Palace in London, laying tens of thousands of flowers in tribute to the woman hailed as the "People's Princess."
Historian Calls Diana's Death A Loss Felt Worldwide
The world mourned Diana as tens of thousands laid flowers outside Kensington Palace.
The legacy of that night, and of Diana's death, has endured.
Historian Ed Owens said: "She was arguably the best-known woman in the English-speaking world, aside from Queen Elizabeth II."
"To have her life extinguished overnight, in such tragic circumstances and at such a young age, stunned people everywhere. It wasn't just a royal death – it was the loss of someone people felt they knew personally."
The chaotic aftermath of the crash was compounded by confusion over Diana's identity at the scene.
Gourmelon admitted he only learned who she was when a paramedic told him as she was being lifted into the ambulance.
"I'll never forget that moment," he said. "It suddenly felt like the whole world had changed."
Investigators Confirm Driver Intoxicated in Diana Crash
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Investigators later concluded Paul lost control while intoxicated.
Dodi Fayed and Henri Paul died instantly in the crash, while Diana's bodyguard Trevor Rees-Jones was the only survivor, left with catastrophic injuries including every bone in his face pulverized.
French investigators later concluded Paul had been drinking and driving at high speed when he lost control of the Mercedes.
For Gourmelon, the memory of the night has never faded.
"Even now, almost three decades later, I can picture it in my head," he said.
"The noise, the wreckage, her voice – I will carry it with me forever."
