DEATH OF A PRINCESS: ACCIDENT OR ASSASSINATION?
The real life accounts of cybersleuths from around the globe
who advance their theories about what really happened in the
Pont
de l'Alma Tunnel on August 31, 1997
Excerpts from the Original
Internet
Conspiracy Theory Discussion Board
as
Featured in Reuters and CNN
By Elizabeth Mendenhall
Synopsis: With aliases like "Intrepid," "Windward,"
"Parallax," "The
Third Man," and "Umbrella Woman," concerned citizens of the world are
gathering to grieve, vent, and inquire into what they consider to be
the strange deaths of Princess Diana and her millionaire companion,
Dodi Fayed. The gathering place, in this case, is a little corner of
cyberspace referred to as the Conspiracy Theory Discussion Board.
Launched within only a couple of hours of the news of Diana's death,
the Discussion Board and its attached Web Site, are dedicated at the
moment solely to the topic of possible conspiracy theories related to
the two deaths.
Having been the first published forum in the world known to have given
rise to the notion that the Princess and Fayed had gotten engaged that
fateful night, the Discussion Board has drawn the attention of Reuters
and TIME Magazine. Unfettered by editors, governments, or libel laws,
the largely anonymous participants on the Discussion Board openly
challenge the media, the Royals, and British and French investigators
concerning the role they may have played, or may be failing to play,
in this unfolding story. Speculation about whether or not Diana might
have been pregnant appeared on the Discussion Board as early as that
first night, August 31, 1997, finally emerging as a question on
tabloid T.V. several weeks later.
But there are questions of even greater significance that continue to
post here before the rest of the world has gathered its collective
gumption to pose the questions that linger in nearly everyone's mind.
Why did the news reports first state only that Diana had a concussion,
broken arm, and cuts to her thighs--statements that gave a waiting
world hope that, for the Princess, this would only be a tragically
sad, and unfortunate mishap? Why did the ambulance carrying the
Princess take more than one hour to drive the six mile distance to the
hospital? How does a speeding car do a 90 degree turn into a pillar a
few feet to its direct side? How does one explain the coincidence of
so many American tourists around the Pont de l'Alma tunnel at Midnight
in Paris? How was it possible for a photographer to open the door of
the Mercedes in order to take Princess Diana's pulse when rescue
workers have stated that she had to be cut from the vehicle? How
does a doctor on the scene treat a patient and administer oxygen
without ever seeing her face?
Why has this story become such an enigma? Why have there been so many
conflicting reports? What accounts for a tale of paparazzi pursuers
ALLEGEDLY so rabid for a picture that they are accused of opening the
car door, not to assist, but to rearrange the bodies for a better
picture; of a drunk, pill-popping, speed demon driver who carries off
a steady gait and demeanor only moments before he ALLEGEDLY taunts
photographers and drops the gas pedal to maximum speed; of the jewels
and cash that were ALLEGEDLY reported to have been found in the car,
the likely target of a heist gone afoul; or, incredibly, where an
ambulance carrying a dying Princess a mere six miles is thought to be
lost by police and hospital officials when it hasn't shown up for more
than an hour. What accounts for the many extremes involved in this
saga ? . . . not two times the legal limit for alcohol while driving,
but enough to put a linebacker on his hind end at four times that
limit, and with pills to boot . . . a car that doesn't whisk through a
tunnel with a 30 MPH speed limit at two times that speed, but again,
at four times that speed . . . not two paparazzi involved at the
scene, but at least six times that number . . . A "concussion and a
broken arm" that became "massive internal bleeding and a heart
attack". . . .
It is a tale of security men, who are trained to protect their charges
at all cost, and to proceed at all times with caution, who break type
and recklessly push the accelerator to 121 MPH; of ambulance drivers
who are trained to drive fast to save their charges but who
incredulously proceed at a speed of slightly above idle with the life
of one of the world's most prominent figures hanging in the balance;
of experienced paparazzi who know the vanity of picture taking at high
speed through tinted glass, and who already know the destination their
charges are headed to; of an odd-lot of witnesses curiously comprised
of mostly American tourists indulging in witching hour Pont de l'Alma
tunnel viewing; and of eyewitness accounts that change who was in the
car, how fast it was going, what the extent of Diana's injuries were,
and what, if anything, she might have said at the scene and before she
died. At worst, it is a conspiracy of a grand scale. At best it is
ineptitude of reporting at its very zenith.
But for Parallax, Umbrella Woman, Intrepid, The Third Man, and all the
rest, representing thousands of participants from the seven
continents, including both Christians and Moslems, there is a little
corner of the world where truth can be found out and have its say.
The Conspiracy Theory Discussion Board, located somewhere in
Cyberspace, may just hold some of the answers.
Death of a Princess: Accident or Assassination? is a standalone book
including comprehensive excerpts from the Internet's real-life
Conspiracy Theory Discussion Board, dedicated to the inquiry into
Princess Diana's death, with annotations and commentary from the
WebMaster who is the book's author. Contributions from this book are
also designed to be included in an epilogue to Assassins of the Pont
de l'Alma,, a novel written in the suspense-thriller genre by
Mendenhall and best-selling author William J. Kushner. This summary
version will be titled Post-mortem: the Best of the Internet's
Conspiracy Theory Discussion Board and is designed to provide an
additional hook for the novel's reader, while also serving to promote
the complete real-life book. With this novel, the first to be
inspired by an online discussion board--and with the discussion board
being the first collaborative international sleuthing effort to take
place in cyberspace, in "real time" as events are breaking--the
crossover markets for both books should be vast. While the real-life
book explores the questions on everyone's mind, the novel propels the
reader into an edge-of-your-seat, fictionalized account of what could
easily have brought about the events of August 31, 1997. As a
pairing, no one will be able to resist this unique and unprecedented
blend of fact and fiction.
Copyright 1997 Elizabeth Mendenhall
tommi@home.com