Diana’s Last Moments: French Medic Recalls ‘Tragic Night’

French Emergency Doctor Frederic Maillez, who was first to arrive at the scene of the crash that killed Britain's Diana, Princess of Wales, speaks to The Associated Press, next to the Pont de l'Alma tunnel, in Paris, Wednesday, Aug. 24, 2022. (AP)
French Emergency Doctor Frederic Maillez, who was first to arrive at the scene of the crash that killed Britain's Diana, Princess of Wales, speaks to The Associated Press, next to the Pont de l'Alma tunnel, in Paris, Wednesday, Aug. 24, 2022. (AP)
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Diana’s Last Moments: French Medic Recalls ‘Tragic Night’

French Emergency Doctor Frederic Maillez, who was first to arrive at the scene of the crash that killed Britain's Diana, Princess of Wales, speaks to The Associated Press, next to the Pont de l'Alma tunnel, in Paris, Wednesday, Aug. 24, 2022. (AP)
French Emergency Doctor Frederic Maillez, who was first to arrive at the scene of the crash that killed Britain's Diana, Princess of Wales, speaks to The Associated Press, next to the Pont de l'Alma tunnel, in Paris, Wednesday, Aug. 24, 2022. (AP)

The woman was crumpled on the floor of a mangled Mercedes, unconscious and struggling to breathe. The French doctor had no idea who she was, and focused on trying to save her.

Twenty-five years later, Frederic Mailliez is still marked by what happened in the Alma Tunnel in Paris on Aug. 31, 1997 — and the realization that he was one of the last people to see Princess Diana alive.

“I realize my name will always be attached to this tragic night,” Mailliez, who was on his way home from a party when he came across the car crash, told The Associated Press. “I feel a little bit responsible for her last moments.”

As Britain and Diana’s admirers worldwide mark a quarter-century since her death, Mailliez recounted the aftermath of the crash.

That night, Mailliez was driving into the tunnel when he spotted a smoking Mercedes nearly split in two.

“I walked toward the wreckage. I opened the door, and I looked inside,” he said.

What he saw: “Four people, two of them were apparently dead, no reaction, no breathing, and the two others, on the right side, were living but in severe condition. The front passenger was screaming, he was breathing. He could wait a few minutes. And the female passenger, the young lady, was on her knees on the floor of the Mercedes, she had her head down. She had difficulty breathing. She needed quick assistance.”

He ran to his car to call emergency services and grab a respiratory bag.

“She was unconscious,” he said. “Thanks to my respiratory bag (...) she regained a little bit more energy, but she couldn’t say anything.”

The doctor would later find out the news — along with the rest of the world — that the woman he treated was Diana, Britain’s national treasure adored by millions.

“I know it’s surprising, but I didn’t recognize Princess Diana,” he said. “I was in the car on the rear seat giving assistance. I realized she was very beautiful, but my attention was so focused on what I had to do to save her life, I didn’t have time to think, who was this woman.”

“Someone behind me told me the victims spoke English, so I began to speak English, saying I was a doctor and I called the ambulance,” he said. “I tried to comfort her.”

As he worked, he noticed the flash of camera bulbs, of paparazzi gathered to document the scene. A British inquest found Diana’s chauffeur, Henri Paul, was drunk and driving at a high speed to elude pursuing photographers.

Mailliez said he had “no reproach” toward the photographers’ actions after the crash. “They didn’t hamper me having access to the victims. ... I didn’t ask them for help, but they didn’t interfere with my job.”

Firefighters quickly came, and Diana was taken to a Paris hospital, where she died a few hours later. Her companion Dodi Fayed and the driver also died.

“It was a massive shock to learn that she was Princess Diana, and that she died,” Mailliez said. Then self-doubt set in. “Did I do everything I could to save her? Did I do correctly my job?” he asked himself. “I checked with my medical professors and I checked with police investigators,” he said, and they agreed he did all he could.

The anniversary is stirring up those memories again, but they also come back “each time I drive through the Alma Tunnel,” he said.

As Mailliez spoke, standing atop the tunnel, cars rushed in and out past the pillar where she crashed, now bearing a stencil drawing of Diana’s face.

The Flame of Liberty monument nearby has become a memorial site attracting Diana fans of all generations and nationalities. She has become a timeless figure of emancipation and a fashion icon even for those born after her death.

Irinia Ouahvi, a 16-year-old Parisian visiting the flame, said she knows Diana through TikTok videos and through her mother.

“Even with her style she was a feminist. She challenged royal etiquette, wearing cyclist shorts and casual pants,” Ouahvi said.

Francine Rose, a Dutch 16-year-old who stopped by Diana’s memorial while on a biking trip in Paris, discovered her story thanks to “The Princess,” a recent film starring Kristen Stewart.

“She is an inspiration because she was evolving in the strict household, the royal family, and just wanted to be free,” Rose said.



North Korea Has Opened Its Doors to a Group of International Travelers for the 1st Time in Years 

A group of Russian tourists, likely the first foreign travelers from any country to enter North Korea since the pandemic arrive at the Pyongyang International Airport in Pyongyang, North Korea, on Feb. 9, 2024. (AP)
A group of Russian tourists, likely the first foreign travelers from any country to enter North Korea since the pandemic arrive at the Pyongyang International Airport in Pyongyang, North Korea, on Feb. 9, 2024. (AP)
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North Korea Has Opened Its Doors to a Group of International Travelers for the 1st Time in Years 

A group of Russian tourists, likely the first foreign travelers from any country to enter North Korea since the pandemic arrive at the Pyongyang International Airport in Pyongyang, North Korea, on Feb. 9, 2024. (AP)
A group of Russian tourists, likely the first foreign travelers from any country to enter North Korea since the pandemic arrive at the Pyongyang International Airport in Pyongyang, North Korea, on Feb. 9, 2024. (AP)

A small group of foreign tourists has visited North Korea in the past week, making them the first international travelers to enter the country in five years except for a group of Russian tourists who went to the North last year.

The latest trip indicates North Korea may be gearing up for a full resumption of its international tourism to bring in much-needed foreign currency to revive its struggling economy, experts say.

The Beijing-based travel company Koryo Tours said it arranged a five-day trip from Feb. 20 to Feb. 24 for 13 international tourists to the northeastern North Korean border city of Rason, where the country’s special economic zone is located.

Koryo Tours General Manager Simon Cockerell said the travelers from the UK, Canada, Greece, New Zealand, France, Germany, Austria, Australia and Italy crossed by land from China. He said that in Rason, they visited factories, shops, schools and the statues of Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il, the late grandfather and father of current leader Kim Jong Un.

"Since January of 2020, the country has been closed to all international tourists, and we are glad to have finally found an opening in the Rason area, in the far north of North Korea," Cockerell said.

"Our first tour has been and gone, and now more tourists on both group and private visits are going in, arranging trips," he added.

After the pandemic began, North Korea quickly banned tourists, jetted out diplomats and severely curtailed border traffic in one of the world’s most draconian COVID-19 restrictions. But since 2022, North Korea has been slowly easing curbs and reopening its borders.

In February 2024, North Korea accepted about 100 Russian tourists, the first foreign nationals to visit the country for sightseeing. That surprised many observers, who thought the first post-pandemic tourists would come from China, North Korea’s biggest trading partner and major ally.

A total of about 880 Russian tourists visited North Korea throughout 2024, South Korea’s Unification Ministry said, citing official Russian data. Chinese group tours to North Korea remain stalled.

This signals how much North Korea and Russia have moved closer to each other as the North has supplied weapons and troops to Russia to support its war against Ukraine. Ties between North Korea and China cooled as China showed its reluctance to join a three-way, anti-US alliance with North Korea and Russia, experts say.

Before the pandemic, tourism was an easy, legitimate source for foreign currency for North Korea, one of the world’s most sanctioned countries because of its nuclear program.

North Korea is expected to open a massive tourism site on the east coast in June. In January when President Donald Trump boasted about his ties with Kim Jong Un, he said that "I think he has tremendous condo capabilities. He’s got a lot of shoreline." That likely refers to the eastern coast site.

A return of Chinese tourists would be key to making North Korea's tourism industry lucrative because they represented more than 90% of total international tourists before the pandemic, said Lee Sangkeun, an expert at the Institute for National Security Strategy, a think tank run by South Korea's intelligence agency. He said that in the past, up to 300,000 Chinese tourists visited North Korea annually.

"North Korea has been heavily investing on tourism sites, but there has been not much domestic demand," Lee said. "We can assess that North Korea now wants to resume international tourism to bring in many tourists from abroad."

The restrictions that North Korea has typically imposed on foreign travelers — such as requirements that they move with local guides and the banning of photography at sensitive places — will likely hurt its efforts to develop tourism. Lee said that Rason, the eastern coast site and Pyongyang would be the places where North Korea feels it can easily monitor and control foreign tourists.