>> reporter: the famous cases that still haunt us: there are new secrets to uncover. >> she often talked about dark forces. >> there were allegations of conspiracy to murder tonight, a dateline investigation: "the

life and death of princess diana." >> i will be seeking hopefully a more private life. >> she transcended fame. >> the adulation was absolutely extraordinary. from ingenue to icon: she was a powerful pioneer. >> she stood up to this huge institution of the british monarchy now, 20 years after her death, new details about that fateful night in paris. >> what did you see as you entered the tunnel? >> tonight, french investigators speak out for the first time on american television. >> is there anything that still bothers you to this day? >> revealing stories from close friends. >> she called me on the last night of her life and secret confidants. >> she was pretty sure her phone phones were being listened to. >> she was desperate to ensure that people knew the truth! >> a riveting new look at the ultimate royal rebel. >> we only knew half the story. >> i'm lester holt and this is dateline. here's andrea canning with "the life and death of princess diana." >> reporter: it was getting late in the city of light that last saturday in august 1997.

but sidewalk cafes in paris were still bustling. the moulin rouge was aglow. riverboats along the seine were teeming with tourists. and the paparazzi were out, in full force, because a special visitor was in town. in fact the most famous woman in the world -- princess diana. for years cameras had tailed her like sharks follow blood. and now on this late august night the hunt was still on. as diana and her new lover dodi al fayed sped away from the paparazzi who were in hot pursuit. suddenly, the driver made an unexpected turn into the tunnel the pont de l' alma tunnel. >> breaking news coverage --

>> princess diana has been seriously injured -- >> pursued by paparazzi. >> indeed princess diana has died tonight. >> reporter: it's been nearly two decades since that fateful night, yet princess diana remains as famous in death as she was in life. being a princess doesn't always have a fairytale ending. >> she would probably be the first to agree with that. >> reporter: tonight we go behind the palace gates and reveal that behind every iconic image of diana, there is a story, often a secret. >> diana and dodi didn't have this full-fledge romance that people think. definitely not. >> reporter: secrets she shared with only a select few. >> i had to protect her. our relationship was a very private one. it was a secret one. >> reporter: she was beautiful, magnetic, but also misunderstood. >> diana wasn't paranoid. she wasn't damaged goods. she was very unhappy with the

state of her marriage. >> reporter: even now, questions still swirl about her marriage. her battles with the monarchy. her secret love affairs, and what really caused that horrible crash in paris. >> we had to look at whether there was a real reason why someone would want to murder princess diana that night. >> reporter: over the next two hours, we'll hear from close friends, confidantes -- insiders -- people who worked for her and covered her -- who offer intriguing new insights about the woman who will always be remembered as "the people's princess." diana francis spencer was born into aristocracy in 1961. the daughter of an earl, she was raised at this country estate called althorp. we got a rare look inside diana's stunning childhood home which few have ever seen. her brother charles and his wife

gave nbc's cynthia mcfadden a tour. >> this is a room that i associate really with diana tap dancing and as a sort of teenager she did endless tap-dancing in here and that's my main connection in this house of her. >> reporter: inside the grand house. it was not always warm and friendly. the parents divorced, and her mother lost custody of the children. but their father remarried a woman named raine spencer. diana and her brother called her "acid raine", and she kept them at arm's length in one of the giant estate's smallest rooms. >> we were put up in the attics and for a house like this i would say very, very, very modest rooms. but you know its just the way it was. >> reporter: diana's unhappy childhood, would later manifest itself in a big way. >> she was very, very needy. >> reporter: penny junor has written extensively about the royals, including books on both prince charles and diana. >> she was constantly looking for love.

the love that she felt she had never had from her mother. and that actually tainted her entire life. >> reporter: during her teen years diana started to blossom james colthurst, who is a dateline consultant, met her on a ski trip and snapped these rare shots. >> she just blended in with the whole group. she had a very good sense of humor. she was amusing. she got plenty of attention. >> reporter: in the late 1970s, at age 17, diana moved to london. and later worked at a nursery school not exactly glamorous. in fact, it was her sister who was dating the future king of england, prince charles. but few knew that the world's most eligible bachelor was on a mission, not entirely of his own choosing. >> it was time. he was under pressure. >> reporter: richard kay is the editor at large for the london daily mail. he later became close friends

with diana and also covered prince charles. >> he felt pressure from his family, pressure from his friends, pressure from himself. he knew that his duty was to-- have a son. i mean -- to secure the house of windsor. that was his job. so he had to find someone with whom he could have a family. >> reporter: someone like lady diana spencer. at that time it was absolutely imperative for the heir to the throne to marry an aristocrat who was not a roman catholic and who was a virgin. she was, on paper, absolutely, 100% perfect. >> reporter: so perfect that behind the scenes charles' and diana's grandmothers were helping "move things along." >> diana's grandmother, was the queen mother's best friend. so the stars were in alignment, if you like. i mean, diana was almost plucked -- and chosen for charles. >> reporter: the two began "dating" in that royal kind of way. >> when she referred to him, she had to call him sir. it was a really different kind of dating that anyone else would do.

>> reporter: the british press was eager to discover just who prince charles might marry. >> reporter: and here is the very first public photo of diana back then. she was just 19. >> reporter: there's an intriguing story behind that historic shot. from arthur edwards the newspaper photographer who snapped it. we found edwards in london and he still remembers that day back in 1980 when he got a tip from someone attending charles' polo match, who told him. >> he's here today with a girl called lady diana spencer." so i walked 'round the polo field and i saw this girl, and she was wearin' a necklace. i said, "'scuse me, are you lady diana spencer?" she says, "yeah." i said, "may i take your photograph, please?" she said, "yeah." she posed up for me. >> reporter: this casual photograph is what introduced young lady diana spencer to the world. there would be thousands more pictures to come of course. and diana's life would never be the same.

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reporter: if you remember one thing about charles and diana's whirlwind engagement it's probably this photo op, when we met them as couple for the very first time. >> just delighted and happy. i'm amazed that she's been brave enough to take me on. >> reporter: and i suppose, in love? >> of course! >> whatever "in love" means. >> reporter: the real story behind that rather awkward interview actually goes much deeper. charles was hesitant to propose to diana. so much so that his father, prince phillip, sent him a letter. >> phillipp was saying to him, "look, you've been seeing this

girl. you can't lead her out in the garden path, so to speak. either marry her or let her go. otherwise, she's gonna be a very damaged young woman." >> reporter: charles, under pressure to fulfill his royal duties, and diana, just 19 years old decided to take the plunge into what was essentially an arranged marriage. >> she was very much in love with him. and i think he was not yet in love with her. >> he was bounced into asking diana to marry him before he was ready. >> reporter: charles was almost 13 years older than diana, more worldy, more educated. even so, the two told the media they were the perfect match. >> what do you think we've got in common? >> sense of humor. um, every outdoor activity. except for i don't ride. >> she'll remedy that. >> lots of things, really. >> reporter: but in reality diana and charles didn't seem to have much in common.

>> she didn't like horses and dogs. she hated all those kind of sporting activities that he went in for. and she was a young -- 19, 20-year-old, who was into romantic fiction and shopping and lunching and mucking about with her mates. >> reporter: and right away, diana discovered someone who was important to charles, a person from his past. >> there was another woman in this dymanic. camilla parker bowles. >> yes. parker-bowles was a confidante of prince charles' and a lover of his before, long before he met diana. but she and charles remained good friends. >> there was this sense, i think, from almost the beginning that charles wasn't entirely diana's own. >> reporter: camilla tominey is the royal editor for "the sunday express" in london. >> charles had insisted that his relationship with camilla had been platonic, but i think there was a sense that diana quickly realized that mentally charles

wasn't completely with her 100%. >> reporter: most people have long believed that camilla parker bowles was the villian in this story. but camilla, early on, actually supported diana, advised her about charles and royal life. >> she liked diana and thought that she would be a lovely wife for him. so she was very friendly to her. and diana was very friendly to camilla. >> reporter: but diana, just 19, was insecure, says her friend richard kay. >> she was a naive young girl. charles was her first proper man in her life. but he appeared to have someone else he was interested in, too. it would've made anyone question themselves. she was beautiful, gorgeous, fantastic to have on your arm, but maybe she struggled to have a rigorous conversation with him. >> reporter: so diana was giving charles more the beauty and camilla was giving him more the brains. >> i think that's it. >> reporter: then just weeks before the wedding, diana's

concerns about camilla, suddenly exploded in an incident that wasn't reported at the time. >> she came across a present between charles and camilla. >> reporter: what was it? >> it was a bracelet with -- >> reporter: inscription? >> and it had "g & f" on it. "g" was the name "gladys," which was the nickname that charles had for camilla. "f" stood for "fred," which was camilla's pet name for charles. >> diana flew into a complete rage and stormed out of the room. diana got it into her head that camilla and charles never stopped having an affair. and she became absolutely obsessed by ka micamilla. charles realized during the engagement that there was something really badly wrong. and he didn't have the courage to -- call a halt to it. >> reporter: thrust into the royal spotlight and now concerned about camilla, the pressure on diana, according to author penny junor, was

beginning to take its toll. >> diana changed literally overnight. having been this sunny, easy, happy-go-lucky, smiley girl. she turned into this dark, at times, girl, who went into rages, absolute rages, temper tantrums, tears, jealousies, kicking furniture. and he just didn't know how to cope. >> reporter: by now the wedding was just weeks away. >> at every turn, she was sort of trapped in a different way. >> reporter: sarah ellison is a special correspondent for "vanity fair" magazine, who has written about princess diana and her relationships. diana later said that she actually wanted to get out of getting married to charles. >> no one has ever called off a royal wedding. they were never not going to be married. >> lady diana is regarded here as just about the perfect bride. >> diana had lunch with her sisters. and she said, "you know, i can't go through with this. i want out. i don't wanna do this." and her sisters, jokingly said,

"too late. your face is on the tea towels." and, of course, you know, that was the problem. it was too late. >> more than 60 bbc television cameras will produce pictures for a worldwide audience of about 700 million. >> reporter: the royal wedding would indeed go on, whether the bride and groom wanted it or not. >> diana managed to spot camilla parker bowles. >> and few more on the honeymoon. >> charles open ed up the diary and there is a photo of camilla in it. i mean, how stupid is that? >> when "dateline" continued. . . e.s. irreplaceable monkey protection. detergent alone doesn't kill bacteria, but adding new lysol laundry sanitizer kills 99.9% of bacteria with 0% bleach.

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>> reporter: the british royal family celebrates the wedding of the prince of wales. >> summer, 1981. lady diana spencer was about to become princess diana -- in one of the most eagerly anticipated weddings in the world. >> good evening from london, where we have come to cover the royal wedding.

charles, prince of wales takes the lovely lady diana spencer as his bride. >> the royal wedding was fantastic. it was british pomp and pageantry at its best. a lot of people could see the carriage procession in a glass coach like cinderella. >> i was nine-years-old. i set my alarm at 4:00 a.m. and got up to watch the wedding. i was one of 750 million people watching that wedding. >> yeah. it was like a fairytale. and diana sort of fulfilled all our childhood notions of what a fairytale princess should look like. >> but there was something else going on at the wedding, a story no one knew. see the crowd in the church? diana just happened to spot one particular face. >> diana managed to spot camilla parker-bowles, and she

saw her as she was going up the aisle. >> did she ever talk to you about that moment? >> she just said, "i knew from that moment -- that this woman was never gonna go away." >> so long as you both shall live. >> i will. >> i will. >> but the show went on in front of hundreds of millions around the world. >> now prince and princess of wales, possibly the future king and queen of england. >> before leaving on their honeymoon, charles and diana gave everyone another picture perfect moment. >> the photographers who were, sort of, in a pit below the palace shouting up to them. "kiss her. kiss her, sir. kiss her." and the crowd picked up on this. and "kiss. kiss." and diana said, you know, "why not?" >> it was an electrifying moment. >> the royal newlyweds set off on a romantic cruise.

>> but in the honeymoon suite it wasn't smooth sailing. >> charles opened his diary. and there was a photograph of camilla in it. i mean, how stupid is that? he wore some cufflinks that had -- c's entwined on them that camilla had given him. again, how stupid. >> for diana, it went from bad, to boring. >> he read books. she wanted to lie on the sun deck with him, canoodle with him, drink lovely cocktails with him. i know she didn't want him to be buried in a book, but that is his idea of a lovely holiday. >> how do you like balmoral as a place? >> it's lovely. >> back from their cruise, the newlyweds once again put on a happy face. >> how are you enjoying married life? >> highly recommend it! >> but behind the photo ops, a

very different story was playing out. >> their interests simply did not coincide. but they didn't know this until it was too late. >> it may have been a marital mis-match, but their adoring public couldn't get enough. >> diana was immediately embraced as the new princess. >> people, i think, began to realize this was a very spirited young woman. she was gonna be somebody, and she was gonna make the monarchy something very interesting. >> diana's star became a superknow vashgs and they called it diana mania. >> she is turning out to be one of the most pop ular and sought out after members of the royal famil family. >> diana found herself a superstar absolutely overnight. ♪ >> it was very easy to see that she was very different from other members of the royal family almost immediately that you started to photograph her,

let alone talk to her. >> reporter: forever jayne fincher covered diana from the beginning. >> she was so much more casual and informal and dare i say it, human. she wasn't frightened to show she was human. and -- and that was very evident straight away. >> diana was a natural in the spotlight. pics of diana and crowds and she did it in style. >> bruce oldfield was one of diana's designers and still owns a dress shop in london. >> this was the place where we made all the dresses for princess back in the '80s. she'd say, "oh, i'll come down and have a look at fabrics," she was very game, you know, to do all that kind of stuff. she understood what a good dress could do. she knew that it had power and she knew it -- it would get on the front page. >> reporter: power that enabled diana to change the culture. >> growing up as a british girl, you know, in the '80s and '90s, everyone's mother was going and getting princess diana haircuts.

i remember my mother particularly sort of wearing skirt suits and jackets, and emulating this very elegant look that diana used to -- portray. >> but soon, diana would feel the heat from life in the royal spotlight. >> she was unworldly. she was a schoolgirl, basically. i think it was just way, way too much for her. >> and, way too much for prince charles, who would soon discover some troubling secrets about his new bride. coming up, from joy to despair. >> do you believe it was a suicide attempt? it was an attention seek. >> and then a dangerous affair. >> her bodyguards knew about it, and charles knew about it, and they were playing with fire.

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♪ free, free recalculating. ♪ set me free recalculating. love, hope, happiness. whatever your destination, there's a million beautiful, ever changing ways to get us there. there's a million beautiful, >> reporter: in the early days of their marriage charles and diana looked every inch the picture perfect royal couple. >> what was going on behind closed doors was a whole lot different than the diana we were seeing.

>> it -- it was. and the world and the media just didn't know. >> reporter: didn't know that behind palace gates, diana was often miserable. >> she had terrible -- mood swings, terrible rages, terrible tantrums, terrible jealousies, >> reporter: while charles was often distant. >> what she found at home was not the loving home life that she wanted. she want ad h -- wanted a husbar in his arms and embrace her and tell her what, how marvelous she'd been, and, and charles was too busy or too uninterested to do that. >> reporter: feeling neglected by her husband, diana struggled to adapt to the rigors of royal life. >> the exuberance that had been there before was not thriving. she really didn't wanna let the queen down. she really wanted to do the job.

>> reporter: james colthurst and diana's other friends around london saw firsthand that she needed help, so they arranged lunches in hopes of cheering her up. >> the general sense was maybe we'd try to regenerate some of the contact with the past and just see if that could help support her. >> reporter: colthurst, who was a doctor, would soon take on another role, helping diana, especially when she asked his advice about an upcoming charity appearance. >> and she -- shoved a speech my way for i think it was the -- the aids charity and -- and said, "what do you think of the speech?" i said, "it's dull." and she said, "oh, well, you write it then." ♪ >> reporter: diana had an ambitious agenda and sometimes called colthurst ten times a day to discuss the causes close to her heart. >> i wasn't creating anything that i didn't think was absolutely in her spirit. so the aim was to coax her into owning herself again. >> reporter: but the two had to be careful and not blow his cover. >> with so many calls, there was a need for discretion. she was pretty sure her phones were being listened to so i

would go to a callbox and call the number she was at, which was often a callbox too, so that we didn't think there was time for anybody to intercept the call. >> reporter: with colthurst's help, diana seemed to become more comfortable and started to excel in her charity work. >> here she was with a whole bunch of people who valued her. and that did so much for her self-esteem. >> was filling the void that she wasn't getting at home. >> it was completely filling the void. >> reporter: but even then behind the scenes, there was conflict. diana's choice of causes wasn't always in sync with her powerful mother-in-law, the queen. ♪ >> she felt that the monarchy was, sort of, stuck in the past and that she, diana, was trying to change it by doing things like aids and leprosy and diseases which were unfashionable. >> reporter: to a monarchy wrapped in tradition, diana may have been a rebel with too many causes. >> she felt that -- somehow the queen didn't appreciate what she was doing, she used to refer to her, only to me, as the "top lady." she never called her the queen

or her majesty. >> reporter: one day the "top lady" and the princess had a conversation which diana shared with her head of security, ken wharfe. >> and she said "i wanna get involved in finding a cure for aids." and she said the queen sort of put her head back and sort of -- then said, "well, why don't you get involved in something nice?" >> reporter: diana persisted, and her compassion quickly made her the most popular member of the royal family casting a long shadow over her new husband. ken wharfe told us about a conversation in which she offered to accompany charles on one of his official visits. >> she said, "do you want me to come with you?" "no," he said, "they'll only be interested in you." >> charles had his nose put out of joint. he delivers his speech, and the papers the next day are filled with what his wife was wearing. could she perhaps be pregnant? has she got a new hairstyle?

nothing about the speech! >> reporter: with diana's soaring popularity came increased leverage as she struggled to cope with the constraints of the monarchy. >> diana was pioneering because she did break down these preconceived ideas about royal protocol, proving that she is one of us, and not one of them. >> reporter: diana may have been carving out a new role for herself, but there was still one traditional job, that she absolutely had to do, produce an heir. >> her royal highness, the prince of wales, has given birth to a baby son! god save the queen! >> reporter: june 1982, prince william was born. >> obviously relieved and delighted. it's marvelous. it's rather a grown up thing i found! >> reporter: and two years

later, a little brother. >> his name is henry charles albert david, but they're gonna call him harry. >> reporter: once again, to outward appearances, they seemed the perfect family. what few knew at the time, was that the marriage was fracturing. and diana, at least to charles, seemed unstable. in fact when she was pregnant with harry, diana threw herself down a flight of stairs. >> do you believe that that was a suicide attempt? what was that? >> i think she might have been -- dispirited at the time. she might have just tripped, that was an attention seek. i certainly don't see it as a suicide attempt. >> reporter: whatever it was, the palace never went public with it. same with an issue in diana's past that had now resurfaced, bulimia. >> the bulimia, i believe, was a consequence of her royal life and not being able to cope with it.

>> did she talk to you about the bulimia? >> she did. she said it was awful. she would gorge on -- on ice cream, and bowls of -- of breakfast cereal with lots of cream and milk and then immediately go and throw up. >> charles didn't know how on earth to cope with it. charles organized for her to see a psychiatrist. and she would say she's better. she didn't need him anymore. charles was sympathetic to start with. but when he met these tantrums day, after day, after day, he became immune to it. and, it was a real vicious circle. she was craving love and attention, but by her behavior, was pushing him away. >> reporter: two years after prince harry was born, diana began taking riding lessons from a british calvary officer named james hewitt. this photo of them later became notorious, when hewitt revealed he and diana had an affair. >> in my mind it was never her intention to fall in love with me. and it was certainly not my intention to fall in love with diana. >> do you think that james hewitt was kind of everything that charles wasn't?

like, an escape for her? >> i think -- absolutely he was an escape for her. but also, he didn't judge her. he didn't have any kind of expectation for her. >> reporter: the affair with hewitt carried real risks for diana. r risks peculiar for a princess. >> it is treasonable for -- the wife of the heir to the throne to have an affair with someone. i mean, it's on par with being accused of being a traitor. they were playing with fire. her bodyguards knew about it. >> did charles know about it? >> yeah. charles knew about it. >> reporter: but perhaps he was inclined to look the other way. and toward diana's old nemesis, camilla parker bowles. >> camilla pretty much was a constant feature of charles' life. >> how did diana really feel about camilla? >> well, she called her the rottweiler for a start, which gives you an idea of what she thinks about her.

i mean, a -- rottweiler is -- is one of those dogs which when it holds onto something, it never lets go. >> reporter: the once fairytale royal marriage was now on the rocks. and later diana would share all her dark secrets outside the palace gates in a way no one ever saw coming. >> spies at the palace? >> she was ainngry and very ang and she had the feeling that they were pushing her aside from the role of mother. >> diana launchs a plot of her own when "dateline" continues. r own when "dateline" continues. e own when "dateline" continues.

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>> reporter: spring 1987. an indelible image appeared of diana at a london hospital. a simple handshake that would never be forgotten. it was during the height of the aids epidemic. >> it had been mislabeled as a gay disease. it had been misunderstood as something that could be caught by shaking hands by kissing, by hugging. >> reporter: that day diana helped change the world's thinking.

>> she knew she was guaranteed to get it on the front pages, to say, "it's all right." you know, "i'm not worried about my own personal safety, so why should you be?" it was really a seminole moment. >> reporter: but privately diana was waging another battle, this one on the home front, trying to cope with her troubled marriage. >> diana was pushing charles away. charles was getting more and more profoundly depressed, he didn't confide in anyone. but there were one or two people who had remained in his circle, so they went to camilla. and they said, "listen, we think charles needs you. and she gave him a ring and -- the friendship reignited. >> reporter: that phone call also re-ignited their romance, which was not exactly a secret. >> london newspapers this morning continue to speculate about charles' friendship with a longtime lady friend. >> reporter: but reporters weren't privy to a deeper issue boiling beneath the surface.

diana wasn't just worried about losing her husband, she had far bigger concerns about camilla entering the picture. >> her big fear was this is not a substitute mum for the boys. that they would try to sideline diana and that camilla might use her -- her post. >> that was a fear of diana's? >> big fear. a big fear. >> reporter: diana became convinced the palace was quietly plotting to move her aside because she wasn't fit to raise the young princes. she believed she was being watched and her phones tapped. >> who was keeping tabs on diana? >> i think the government was just watching her for her own safety. but i do think that when things became so contentious between her and charles, there were people who were listening and watching and -- and keeping tabs on her. >> reporter: diana called them the "gray men." some people openly questioned whether she was imagining them. >> i don't think they were all imagined. i -- i think there was a -- a group that maybe thought they

were doing the right thing and may have convinced themselves that she wasn't suitable for the role and therefore, needed to removed, they might have done that. >> who were these people? >> unknown. they're unidentified. but she -- had a very strong sense there was a group, not necessarily with -- with, sanctioning by prince charles, but wishing to do him well. >> reporter: by now rumors of diana's problems and instability were appearing in the press. so once again diana turned to colthurst for advice. he cautioned her to stay quiet for now. >> she was angry, she was very angry. she had the feeling right or wrong that they were pushing her aside to remove her from the role of -- of mother. and therefore they would then control the two princes in the way that they wanted to do it without her there. >> the things she loved the most in the world were those two boys. >> that's exactly right. >> reporter: diana wanted to set the record straight by telling her version of the story in a way that she could control, and without the palace finding out.

she knew of an author named andrew morton who had written a book on sarah ferguson, the duchess of york, and had also started one on diana. so a daring plan was launched. diana agreed to answer questions written by morton. >> it was her first excursion into confronting the 'demons' inside herself. and so it was a cathartic experience for her. >> reporter: colthurst would act as the go between, taking morton's questions to diana, and then secretly recording her answers. >> the point was to separate her from it, because the blame was her big thing. she didn't want to be blamed for it and -- so fine. someone had to be a fall guy if it came out and -- >> and that would be you. >> yes. yes. >> this could tarnish the monarchy. >> not doing it would have, because i think there would've been the un -- uncontrolled release of anger and i think that would've been much more serious. >> reporter: so colhurst peddled over to palace and behind closed doors, tape rolled, diana let loose.

about everything, including her arranged marriage to charles. >> so he said, um, "will you marry me?" and i laughed. i remember thinking, you know, this is a joke. so i said, "yeah, okay." >> reporter: she even addressed her alleged suicide attempts and frequent bouts of bulimia. >> anything i could find i would gobble up and be sick two minutes later. >> reporter: after each recording session colthurst delivered the tape to andrew morton. >> she vividly bring withes out the despair she felt, phrases like i was a sacrificial lam, when she marrieded prince charles. >> reporter: it would be months before the world would finally hear diana's explosive story, but the fuse had been lit.

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>> it was just a simple snapshot. a solitary diana sitting in front of the taj mahal. there's a story behind this famous photo. a not-so-secret signal about the state of the royal marriage. it was february 1992. the royal couple was in india on a rare trip together. >> they were clearly unhappy in each other's company. diana's friend and journalist richard kay reported on the trip. >> diana famously went to the taj mahal, which is one of the most romantic buildings, on the planet and charles, who had said that one day he wanted to bring his wife to this place, didn't go. diana was there alone. >> you think she did that on purpose? >> she knew what she was doing and that picture just said it all. it was one of the most significant photographs of the entire marriage 'cause it showed this picture of an unloved, beautiful young woman. >> a lonely wife.

>> a lonely wife sitting in front of this monument to love. two days later diana put an exclamation point on that picture with yet another defining moment in what the media was now calling the "war of the waleses." >> it happened after one of charles' polo matches, when diana presented him with the winning prize. >> as he went to kiss her, she turned her head away. and he ended up kissin' her on the ear. he was blood-red with -- with outrage, it was -- was a page one picture but for the wrong reasons. >> she knew the impact that picture was gonna have. >> she was publicly documenting her, sort of, kiss off to charles. >> she was. she was. >> soon after, the world got the real story behind the pictures. the whole, messy saga of charles' and diana's 11 year marriage. in june of 1992, her explosive interviews were published in andrew morton's groundbreaking book.

diana's public disclosure was a bombshell that rocked the monarchy. and remember, at the time there was no internet, no social media. the main source of news came from newspapers. and here in london, where there are several dailies and tabloids, diana's troubled marriage made for blaring headlines. >> diana. front page news throughout the world this morning. >> bulimic, trapped in a loveless marriage. serious bouts of depression. >> princess diana broke down in tears. "slashed her wrists with razor blades." >> she doesn't come out of it very well. >> there had never been anything like it in the history of the monarchy. >> the royal family has always had the mantra, never explain, never complain, keep it zipped well, she drove a coach and horses through that theory, putting everything into a book, wearing your heart so firmly on your sleeve, you can see it beating. >> i think charles was flabbergasted when diana went public with all of this and i think he was devastated. >> soon letters were pouring

into the palace. >> she had letters of support from, mainly from -- from women. but masses of them. >> did it accomplish what she wanted? where she wouldn't be sidelined, she could protect her sons. >> i think history has shown that absolutely was the case. she retained her two sons. her role was certainly not reduced after that. but when it came to her marriage. diana's book only hastened the inevitable. >> it is announced from buckingham palace that with regret, the prince and princess of wales have decided to separate. of course it was only a formality. the two had already been living separate lives. then diana decided to make another change. >> over the next few months i will be seeking a more suitable way of combining a meaningful public role, with hopefully, a more private life. >> the most popular woman in the world was withdrawing from public life.

diana went into semi-seclusion. allowing her to spend more time with her young sons william and harry. as they told matt lauer in 2007. >> as children to sort of spend time with her. but at the time we just been it was amazing and as a mother just you know as -- as anybody would say about their mother just amazing. >> one of the memories that we had was when we went to america. and we went to disneyworld. >> but diana couldn't protect the young princes from all the fallout from the "war of the waleses" and you know there were many times that we just sort of you know had to cheer up and tell her that she was you know the best thing ever. >> it would just come out in conversation she was under a lot of pressure throughout her life. >> reporter: pressure that seemed to increase after her separation from charles. diana's security chief ken wharfe says she expressed concern for her own safety. >> she often talked about dark forces, but i don't know quite know where these dark forces came from and she had put on paper in letters to people that

she was concerned and worried about certain things. >> reporter: he says that diana's fears also caused her to seek out a new circle of friends. >> diana was introduced to a set of what i call mystic madness people the tarot card readers, the modern day crystal ball gazers. and i said, you know, "why are you wasting your money seeing these people, because actually they're not gonna predict what's gonna happen." >> one of diana's new friends around this time was a self described "healer" named simone simmons. >> we were like best friends. she would read the rune stones for me. and i would read the tarot cards for her. so we used to give each other readings. >> simone soon became a constant in diana's life. >> and we'd have marathon phone calls. one was eight hours. >> simone says diana also sent christmas cards and left phone messages like this one. >> hello, it's diana. i'm on my way to tennis for one hour. um, i've got so much to tell you but i think you might have gone -- um, ghost hopping in the

house. so anyway i have this thing switched back at one, whatever, whatever. i'll catch you later. lots of love, simone. bye! >> by now prince charles was back with old flame camilla parker bowles the prince had never publicly responded to diana's bombshell book. but in 1994 to mark the 25th anniversary of his appointment as prince of wales, charles allowed an itv crew to follow him around at a time when his public image needed a boost. but the plan backfired, when charles was asked, "had he been faithful in his marriage?" his answer made news around the world. >> yes, until it became irretrievably broken down. us both having tried. >> it was a terrible miscalculation. the media didn't help because they did immediately sort of focus on, yes. yes. adultery. >> and diana's response to

charles' big moment? was this. >> the princess wasn't watching. she was at an art gallery. >> once again upstaging her husband on the very night of his contrite confession. by wearing what came to be call called the revenge dress. diana's fashion designer bruce oldfield got the point. but didn't care for the dress. >> she'd never been seen in a dress like that before. to me that dress looked like somebody got out a pair of scissors and went, clip, clip, clip, clip, clip. >> the next day the -- the headline was all about the interview, but the picture was all about diana. >> but there was still one more bombshell coming in the war of the waleses. and this would be the biggest one of all. lightning quick remorse. >> diana really, really

regretted the interview. >> she has been sacked from the royal firm. >> when "dateline" continues. let's go, she's a dog.

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the famous cases that still haunt us. there are new secrets to uncover. a "dateline" investigation -- the life and death of princess diana. continuing now, the fairytale has fractured. >> life became absolutely impossible for her. >> secret affairs, hidden palace plot plots. >> she was angry, very angry. >> soon, disaster in paris. >> take us inside of that tunnel. what did you see? >> tonight, the first american

tv interview with french investigators. what happened that night? >> tragedy was almost inevitable. >> here again, andrea canning. reporter: november 1995. the war of the waleses had reached a new level of intensity as the royal couple's martial woes continued to play out in public. according to chief bodyguard ken wharfe, diana felt she was the target of a smear campaign. she believed it was being orchestrated by the palace, which deployed surrogates to discredit her. >> friends of the prince of wales went on public television to say that diana was paranoid. that she was bulimic. and even a friend of the queen has said that diana was damaged goods. heavy stuff because whoever was -- had --watching is going to believe that because it's on national television. but that wasn't true. diana wasn't paranoid. she wasn't damaged goods. she was very unhappy with the

state of her marriage. >> reporter: diana was used to being the most popular royal and she knew that she had the power to fight back. >> so diana thought, "well, how the hell am i going to counteract that?" well, there's only one way to do that. is that for me to tell them myself." >> reporter: so diana took to television and appeared on the bbc program "panorama", where she delivered that now infamous remark about camilla which ricocheted around the world. >> well, there were three of us in this marriage, so it was a bit crowded. >> reporter: diana also shocked many viewers, when asked if charles would ever become king. >> i don't think any of us know the answer to that. >> it was very powerful tv, but while saying many of the things that she said which were perfectly fair, she used it as an opportunity to attack prince charles' fitness to be monarch to be future king and this is a major, major problem.

>> reporter: according to her friend simone simmons, diana evenb got feedback from her 13-year-old son william. >> diana really, really regretted the interview. she was upset how it affected william. i mean, he was distraught. >> reporter: and the queen? she was also upset. so much so, that she told the royal couple they needed to do more than simply separate. >> queen elizabeth's command came in a letter to the children telling her son and daughter-in-law it's time to stop squabbling and get a divorce. improbable as it may seem, simone says diana was shocked. >> she was absolutely distraught. after the queen have given the orders, her eyes were like pandas. she'd been crying so much. >> reporter: but the queen had spoken and it was of course front page news in the london tabloids. nine months after the interview in august, 1996, the royal

divorce was final. >> it is estimated that diana will get about $26 million dollars as a settlement as part of the deal. >> reporter: the stunning settlement made even bigger headlines, but the real story was behind the numbers. >> as part of her negotiating position, diana and her lawyers said that she would give up her royal status. i think that was a bad thing. >> she will cease to be "her royal highness." effectively, she's been sacked, she's been fired from the royal firm. and that's a public humiliation. >> reporter: diana not only lost her royal status, she also relinquished something even more important, her royal security. it was a critical decision which her former chief bodyguard ken wharfe, had long cautioned her not to make. >> whatever you want to do, you will always be diana, the princess of wales. the one thing that you shouldn't give up is your security. i urge you strongly not to do that. there's only one person that could, in my view that could

have insisted that she retain her security, and that would have been the queen herself. if the queen had insisted that she retain that security, well we wouldn't be having this discussion. because diana, in my view, would have been alive today. >> reporter: but the queen did not insist. diana's security detail stood down. >> then in my view the tragedy was almost inevitable. coming up, the man who stole her heart. >> she said, i think that i have met my mr. wonderful. >> and the man who would share her fate. >> dodie fayed came at a critical moment in diana's life. "the girl with psoriasis." people don't stare anymore. i never joined in. that wasn't fair to any of us. i was covered. i tried lots of things over the years. but i didn't give up. i kept on fighting. i found something that worked. that still works. now?

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costing over $100, $200, and even $400. fact check this ad in good housekeeping. olay. ageless. reporter: january, 1997. one of the most memorable images in a life filled with them. diana, in a protective visor and body armor, walking a mine field in angola. her mission, to publicize an organization seeking to rid the

world of land mines. >> i am committed in supporting in whatever way i can the international campaign to outlaw these dreadful weapons. >> reporter: five months divorced, no longer officially a royal, but still beloved the world over as princess diana. she was still using her clout for causes she believed in, but had cut back to just a select few. >> diana decided that she was going to enjoy her new-found status, and change herself into a footloose and fancy free, figure of charitable endeavor. and wanting to embark on new relationships, yes, wanting to have a bit more autonomy. >> reporter: diana was in her mid 30s, single. unattached. she spoke frequently with her journalist friend richard kay about the difficulties of finding that special someone. >> she was betrayed by so many people, let down by lots of people including, of course, and famously prince charles. and she was constantly looking

not just for love, but for affection and trust in people. >> reporter: one day at a chance meeting at this london hospital, diana finally seemed to find what she was looking for. she was introduced to a heart surgeon named hasnat khan. >> hasnat khan, that's when she phoned me up to say, "i think i've met my mr. wonderful." their eyes met and she said, "it was like drowning in a sea of chocolate velvet in his eyes." >> reporter: their relationship was very discreet. >> they would have these sort of secret meetings in the hospital. and the hospital staff was quite concerned that she was going to be found out because she still brought so much attention with her. >> reporter: he just wanted to be a doctor? >> he was, at this point, a junior surgeon at the hospital and was working all the time. she would go around to his apartment and do the washing up of his dishes and things like that. she used an assumed name when she called him. >> reporter: armani? >> armani. >> reporter: diana was so

smitten with dr. khan, that she even went to pakistan to meet his family. >> she wanted to marry him. but she knew there's no greater fear that a pakistani mother has then sending her son to a british boarding school and having him come back with an english girlfriend. >> reporter: let alone, princess diana? >> right. she had this idea that they were gonna have a normal life. but her idea of normal is not actually that normal. and i think that he kind of recognized that and found it very difficult. >> reporter: diana told her close friends that "natty," as she called him, was love of her life. she was even willing to leave london for him. >> she looked into living in south africa, australia and wondered whether it would work. but khan had a career path. i mean, he was doing important work. he had plans. >> reporter: so saving people's lives won out over diana. >> i guess so. but it didn't last because, frankly, it couldn't last. this guy is devoted to his

career. the idea that he could become mr. princess of wales, if you like, was just ridiculous. >> reporter: the couple broke it off in july 1997. a few weeks later came an invitation from egyptian billionaire mohammed al fayed, a prominent figure in london, who owned the famous harrod's department store. he was vacationing on his yacht in the mediterranean and asked diana to join him. his son dodie would be be there, too. >> dodi fayed came along at a critical moment in diana's life. and she was looking for something different. very quickly they were involved in a holiday romance. >> reporter: her love affair with dr. khan had been a closely held secret. her fling with dodi was anything but. >> photographs were taken of them. and diana did not disavow this relationship. she made it crystal clear to me,

"he's an unmarried man and i'm a divorced woman. why shouldn't i see him? yes, i'm very happy. he makes me happy." i mean, that was the message she sent out. >> reporter: a message, insists diana's close friend simone simmons, that was meant for one person in particular. >> she thought it might get hasnat back because he'll be jealous. diana had the emotional, maturity of a 13 to 14-year-old. "oh, let's get him jealous, and it's gonna make him want me even more." that was diana. >> reporter: whatever diana's intent, those pictures on the yacht triggered a media feeding frenzy to snap the next big shot of her apparent new romance. and soon it would set into motion a deadly series of events that would spread shock and grief around the world.

>> what did you see as you entered the tunnel? >> there was an accident. there was smoke in the tunnel. >> inside the fight to save diana. when "dateline" continues. he was 34% eastern european. so i went onto ancestry, soon learned that one of our ancestors we thought was italian was eastern european. this is my ancestor who i didn't know about. he looks a little bit like me, yes. ancestry has many paths to discovering your story. get started for free at ancestry.com the rest of the world fades away. so i got you something that stands out as beautifully as you do. jared has more exclusive levian pieces than any other jewelry store in the world. that's why he went to jared. right now, everything is in bloom at the jared semi-annual event.

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reporter: on the last day of her life diana arrived in paris, fresh off the yacht with dodi al fayed. interest in the couple was beyond intense. >> they were being pursued very, very aggressively by the paparazzi. >> reporter: christopher dickey was the paris bureau chief for newsweek magazine and is now a contributor to msnbc. he was there when diana and dodi blew into town. >> reporter: this whole scenario just created a feeding frenzy for the paparazzi? >> they were intent on getting another picture. they wanted to get dodi and diana together wherever they could get them. and they would pursue them no matter where. >> reporter: on the night of

august 30th, dodi and diana went to dinner at the ritz hotel, owned by dodi's father. a security camera captured their arrival. later that evening diana called her close friend richard kay. it was the last conversation they would ever have. >> and i could tell from her voice that she was tired. she was anxious about getting home. she was missing william and harry. she hadn't seen them for the -- for several weeks. >> reporter: also anxious were the crowds and paparazzi waiting outside the hotel for diana and dodi to appear, as seen in this video, shot by an australian tourist and later obtained by paris police. among all the photographers was pierre suu, eager to snap a shot and cash in. >> maybe one picture would go over $100,000 at the time, which would be, like, $300,000 today. >> reporter: with that kind of money on the line suu and his fellow paparazzi were prepared to stay there all night. but later that evening, the couple changed plans.

>> reporter: after finishing dinner here at the ritz hotel, diana and dodi decided to go to his apartment, to avoid the swarm of paparazzi waiting in front of the hotel, dodi and his father hatched a plan to secretly slip away by leaving from the back. >> reporter: dodi was eager to leave the paparazzi behind especially after the media frenzy of the last few weeks, according to his bodyguard trevor rees-jones. >> the attention of the press in paris was a more aggressive attitude than anything we had seen that summer. >> reporter: but that night jones believed dodi's escape plan was half baked. >> he wished to leave from the rear of the hotel, against our wishes, with no security at all. and i had to put my foot down and say, "that's not going to happen. i'll -- i'll be going with them." >> reporter: the hotel's acting director of security was a man named henri paul. he was off duty that night, but was called in to drive dodi and

diana's mercedes limo. so shortly after midnight along with trevor rees-jones, they slipped out to the back alley where the limo was waiting. and took off. >> my last memory is the car pulling away and a couple of paparazzi vehicles following. the paparazzi close in on them like a pack of wolves. >> reporter: they managed to catch them on camera at a nearby stoplight. that's trevor rees-jones riding shotgun with henri paul behind the wheel. >> so he put the pedal to the medal to outrun paparazzi on motorcycles. >> reporter: the mercedes raced toward the entrance of the pont de l'alma tunnel. >> the car was being driven too fast. >> they were driving close to a 100 miles an hour. >> she wasn't wearing a seatbelt. >> they hit that bump. they're more or less airborne. >> reporter: in the blink of an eye they smashed head-on into the 13th pillar.

moments later, frederic maillez, an emergency room doctor, and his partner mark butt, approached the tunnel from the other side. they took us back to the scene. >> reporter: what did you see as you entered the tunnel? >> we saw that there was smoke in the tunnel. and i said, "well, maybe there's a fire." but as we pulled down here we could see that there was an accident that had just happened. >> reporter: and it was a bad one. >> the accident was really severe. >> reporter: so severe, dr. maillez immediately sprang into action. >> you have to be really quick to do the first assessment. two people are not reacting. so i assume they are dead. and the two others reacting, breathing, shouting. >> reporter: dodi and the driver henri paul were dead. but trevor rees-jones was somehow clinging to life, as was diana who was trapped in the backseat. >> reporter: did the woman in the back say anything? >> this woman didn't say anything. she was unconscious. her head was down like that and

she had difficulty to breathe. when i looked at her, she was still a very beautiful woman. >> reporter: in the chaos, neither dr. maillez or mark butt realized who it was. >> i just think that it's somebody well-known. like a prince or something and his girlfriend or wife or something like that. >> reporter: by now photographer pierre suu had arrived. just as he was preparing to snap some photos, police showed up and ordered him out of the tunnel. but he still managed to get these dramatic shots from the outside looking in. >> i had a little telephoto lens, and then i took pictures of anything i could see. >> reporter: meanwhile dr. mailez was desperately trying to help diana in any way he could. >> i tried just to comfort her. i said i was a doctor, that the ambulance were on -- on their way and everything would be all right. >> reporter: soon the media

arrived and the story was on tvs across the world. >> reporter: we've been following the car accident in paris, france. >> newsweek had gone to bed because it was a long weekend. the press run was -- was running. and it was the question of would someone shout out -- >> reporter: "stop the presses." >> "stop the presses." >> reporter: did you? >> yes, they did. but they were going to do it on the basis of what i could report. >> reporter: dickey rushed to the tunnel where the mangled mercedes was being towed out. diana had already been taken to the hospital. anxiously waiting for her was french diplomat sami nair. he was there when the ambulance arrived as he told us in his first interview for american tv. >> reporter: when those doors opened to that ambulance inside was princess diana. >> translator: i remember one thing that moved me a lot, that really touched me. she was lying there and looked serene and there was something angelic about her. >> reporter: inside the er a team of doctors desperately tried to save her.

but diana was failing fast. >> translator: all the informationmation that we were getting was the same. they are massaging her heart. they are trying to save her. >> reporter: but their frantic efforts were futile. princess diana was pronounced dead at 4:00 a.m. her death was kept secret for two more hours until the royal family, and especially prince charles could be notified. >> he was absolutely devastated. his first thought was for his children, obviously. but he also knew that he would be blamed. the public would think that if he hadn't divorced diana, they would still be happily married. the fairytale would've gone on. >> reporter: princess diana has died in a hospital in paris, france. >> reporter: the only survivor is trevor re,es-jones. >> i feel no guilt into the actions that -- that we took

that night. the guilt i feel is that i survived. >> reporter: soon millions would be in mourning. not only in the uk but around the world. but there was one rather prominent person who needed prompting to pay her respects. >> coming up -- >> where was the queen? >> we need ted to hear from her >> astonishing outpouring and still powerful 20 years later. >> the whole world stood still ment. >> it was heartbreaking, wasn't it? crohn's disease. in clinical studies, the majority of patients on humira saw significant symptom relief. and many achieved remission. humira can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. serious, sometimes fatal infections and cancers, including lymphoma, have happened; as have blood, liver, and nervous system problems,

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>> reporter: the morning after. diana's shocking death was just beginning to resonate around the world. by now prince charles had arrived in paris, greeted by a horde of photographers, including pierre suu. >> and i looked at him through my telephoto, i saw somebody shattered. i could see the despair of that man. i hope i will never take a picture like this again. >> later that day diana's body would be flown back to london for the funeral and burial. but photographer arthur edwards whose picture 17 years earlier

first introduced diana to the world would now take his last photo of her. >> as her coffin come out, it started to hit me. and i realized this is -- was the big moment i had to get this picture. and i started to cry. >> diana's old friend and confidant james colthurst was watching it all onle television where he got the tragic news like everybody else. >> well, it was a tragedy. absolute tragedy. it was a sad -- sad that it happened for me, it was -- it was the loss of a chum. we'd been through a lot. >> you changed her life. >> she -- she changed her life. >> reporter: later that morning the public outpouring and unlike anything in the history of the monarchy. >> outside st. james palace, thousands waited, some for as long as seven hours. >> the whole world stood still. it was a collective massive,

global sense of mourning. >> reporter: royal photographer jayne finch er was one of thousands who flocked to kensington palace to pay her respects to diana. >> i picked some flowers from my garden and as i walked up to kensington palace, i just burst into tears. i wasn't prepared for it. i think it was the smell. the smell of the flowers was incredible. >> so many here in london who have made the trip to leave something in her memory- a card, flowers, or a flickering candle. >> it was mainly the sense of a loss of a magical figure. >> she was our princess, wasn't she? the people's princess. it's as simple as that really. >> for the country. for everybody, she -- she had so much to give, she was so brave. >> she was one of the most loved people in this country -- and it

was just a shock. >> reporter: but one person had yet to pay her respects. the queen was conspicuously absent in scotland with the two young princes. the queen's initial silence seemed to send a loud message about the monarchy's coolness toward diana and her remarkable popularity. >> there was a lot of resentment after diana's death that the queen was somehow not with her people in london. and pressure built. the mother of the nation is the queen. we needed to hear from her. >> reporter: something needed to be done and so prime minister tony blair and other government officials discretely and officially urged the queen to come to london. >> tony blair had to basically say, "look at your people. look at those flowers outside of kensington palace. think about this and say something appropriate." so she did. >> first, i want to pay tribute to diana myself. she was an exceptional and

gifted human being. in good times and bad, she never lost her capacity to smile and laugh, nor to inspire others with her warmth and kindness. >> it was a pivotal moment for not only the monarchy but the entire uk. soon the funeral followed. again the world watched. >> the most touching moment for me at least and i think for millions of people was that card that said "mummy." >> yeah. it was heartbreaking, wasn't it? i mean, written by william and placed on top of the coffin -- and that site of william and harry walking behind the gun carriage was incredibly moving. and -- people who never knew her, were sobbing their hearts out. and it just told you something about diana that she reached out to ordinary people in a unique

way. >> reporter: the young princes william and harry still remember that day, of course, and the pain of losing their mother, as they told us in 2007. >> straight after it happened we were always you know always thinking about it. and there's not a day goes by i don't think you know that i don't think about it once in the day. >> you know it still upsets me now the fact that we didn't have much of a chance as -- as you know as children to sort of spend time with her. >> there was someone else at the funeral who was also close to diana. someone few recognized -- dr. hasnat khan. >> he was very upset by it, and just quietly came to the funeral. there was an element of what could have been for the two of them. >> maybe he was her one true love? >> she was certainly in love with him when she died. >> later that day diana was buried at althorp, her family's estate. the people's princess was just 36.

>> as the public outpouring for princess diana was winding down. the blame game was gearing up. >> diana's brother charles was outraged at the media over his sister's death. >> it would appear that every proprietor and editor, at every publication that has paid for intrusive and exploitive photos of her, encouraging greedy and ruthless individuals to risk everything in pursuit of diana's image, has blood on his hands today. >> reporter: the grim task of trying to determine how and why diana died was already underway in paris and pressure was mount ing to find answers. was this crash simply a horrible tragedy? or was it the result of a full-blown conspiracy? coming up -- >> take us inside of that tunnel. >> french investigators speak

out for the first time on american television. an exhaustive investigation, and explosive claim. >> very serious allegations and the security services have been involved in murder of the most popular woman in the world. >> when dateline continues. how your clothes smell can say at lot about you. that's why new downy protect and refresh conditions fibers to lock out odors. so clothing odors don't do the talking for you. lock out odors with new downy protect and refresh. bmilk and fresh cream,a. and only sustainably farmed vanilla. what is this?

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reporter: the shock and sorrow of princess diana's tragic death was now giving way to a hardcore police investigation. soon after the crash, the the investigation here in paris got underway, but of course, this is no ordinary case. french investigators were quickly joined by london's scotland yard to figure out what happened and why, but what they didn't know at the time is that it would take years to get answers. >> reporter: it's an

investigation that is being conducted in traditional french fashion, slowly and silently. >> reporter: the paris investigation was headed by police chief martine montiel who has agreed to speak to "dateline" and american television for the first time. >> translator: to aide what i used to call the marilyn monroe sin drom which is to mean that 30 years later, you are not sure if it is some sort of conspiracy. >> reporter: with the whole world watching french investigators quickly dug into the case unlike any other. >> translator: we interview ed over 1,000 witnesses, and we analyzed 1,350 phone calls just that night to see who had made call, and to whom and notably, who had called for help. >> reporter: among those witnesses were several paparazzi who were in the tunnel right after the crash. some were arrested, all were

questioned, including photographer pierre suu. >> the police confiscated all the rolls of films that the photographers had in their pockets that night. >> reporter: the film was developed and checked for possible clues. while inside the tunnel, investigators made a careful sweep looking for leads. take us inside that tunnel after the accident. >> we found little pearls from princess diana's bracelet and the little pieces of the mirror. >> reporter: the mirror, which appeared to have been ripped off the mercedes during the crash. at the crime lab, forensic scientist patrick touron examined every inch of the smashed-up mercedes. he discovered a dent with tiny specks of white paint. and on the mirror he also noticed similar white blotches. so he ran tests and discovered that these microscopic pieces of paint matched, as he told us in his first u.s. television interview.

>> there's white paint present on the mercedes -- belong to another car. it was a paint specific for the fiat uno. there is a contact between the mercedes and a fiat uno just at the entrance of the tunnel. >> perhaps more physical evidence to that second car mystery theory. >> reporter: now police were getting a better idea of what may have actually caused the wreck, according to "newsweek's" christopher dickey. >> there is a little on-ramp that comes in from the right. and you don't necessarily see cars on that. so this fiat uno, a little after midnight comes down into the tunnel. and then there's this flying mercedes coming in behind him. >> reporter: he swerved to miss the fiat, and -- >> sure. >> reporter: -- and swiped the fiat? >> sure. >> reporter: investigators believe that high speed "swerve" by the mercedes to avoid the fiat was just enough to send it carreening into the pillar. as for the fiat? it was never found, neither was

the driver. but after an exhaustive 14-month investigation, paris police did arrive at a very simple conclusion. >> reporter: the french government issued its report on the crash that killed princess diana. a french magistrate placed blame on one man's shoulders. >> reporter: that man was the driver, henri paul. remember, he'd been off duty, and called in special to drive the princess and dodi. lab tests revealed that he was intoxicated at the time of the crash. his blood alcohol level twice the legal limit. investigators determined paul was drunk and driving too fast as he tried to flee the paparazzi. >> it was in summary, a tragic banal traffic accident. >> reporter: but one british poll indicated more than 60% of uk citizens were convinced diana

and dodi's death was the result of a conspiracy. leading the charge was dodi's father, mohammed al fayed >> i'm not going to rest until. >> reporter: the billionaire financier insisted the car crash was actually a murder orchestrated by the monarchy and implemented by mi-5, the uk's domestic security service. >> i am certain, hundred percent, that leading member of the royal family, have planned that. >> reporter: mohammed al fayed's explosive allegation that prince phillip was part a murder plot was taken very seriously by scotland yard. >> her boyfriend's father insists it was no accident. and so today, an official investigation was launched. >> reporter: it was headed by lord john stevens. >> we were looking at-- allegations-- very serious allegations that came from mr. al fayed was that of course-- he was a muslim.

he wasn't someone who was suitable to the royal family, and that prince philip and the security services had been involved in the murder of the most popular woman in the world. >> reporter: stevens and a team of investigators took a deep dive into the case. >> we had to disprove that there was a conspiracy, so what we did, we looked at every single allegation that had come forward there was an allegation that she was pregnant. and we had to look at that and get some very -- intimate evidence from her friends. we had to bring the car back, which we did. we examined the blood that was still in the car ascertain whether she was pregnant or not. she wasn't. so all of these things had to be looked at. >> reporter: investigators also looked into diana's fears that the palace, and even prince charles, had plotted to kill her. they checked out this note that one of her staff said she wrote, in which where diana predicts her own death from a rigged car accident. the nature of diana and dodi's relationship was also rigorously researched. al fayed had insisted his son and diana were in deeply in love. we found these rare shots taken inside dodi's apartment that

reveal paintings and photos of the princess adorning the walls and even his nightstand. but according to investigators, the pictures didn't tell the real story about dodi and diana's romance. >> there was no evidence whatsoever that dodi was going to ask her to get engaged to him. but there was absolutely no evidence from princess diana's friends and others that she would accept an engagement, or even accept the ring and that's a fact. >> reporter: finally after three pressure packed years, stevens and his team announced their findings. >> there was no conspiracy to murder any occupants of that car. this was a tragic accident. >> reporter: then in 2007, some 10 years after diana's death, the inquiry was followed by a six month court hearing. and the jury came to the exact same conclusion -- diana was not murdered.

>> the notion that she was set up by prince philip, has been completely debunked. >> reporter: but the investigations didn't bring closure to diana's former head of security ken wharfe. he is still haunted by what happened that night in paris. >> diana was vulnerable -- the security wasn't as good as it should have been. and had scotland yard had the responsibility of that protection, again, that accident would not have happened. >> reporter: 20 years later the monarchy has moved on, but diana's impact is still being felt. a new generation of royals is now carrying on her legacy, especially the two princes, who recently went public about their personal lives like never before. >> let's make future generations proud and finish what we started. >> those boys are the living embodiment of diana.

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next friday. >> it is the scariest thing ever.

>> the shot in the night that changed their lives. >> all you heard was ugh! >> "dateline" -- don't watch alone. >> reporter: today, she'd be 55 and a middle-aged grandmother and her time in the spotlight passed to a new generation of royals. some two decades after her death, there are reminders of princess diana all over london. a park, a fountain, and of course, one other place best remembered for that iconic image

taken just days after she died. >> reporter: even now, 20 years later, people are still pay homage to princess diana here at kensington palace, leaving flowers and notes. paying their respects to the woman who will always be known as the people's princess. princess diana's royal tenure lasted just 15 years. but her legacy, endures. >> diana made the monarchy more accessible. she made people feel that members of the royal family were real people, with real feelings and real emotions. i think that's diana's legacy. >> reporter: today the monarchy is experiencing a new wave of popularity. charles and camilla have been happily married for 12 years, and have seen their approval ratings steadily increase. when prince william chose to marry a commoner kate middleton she was accepted and celebrated

because his mother paved the way three decades earlier. and on kate's ring finger is a constant reminder of diana. >> it is a family ring, yes. it's my mother's engagement ring. so this is my way of keeping her sort of close to it all. >> reporter: and prince harry? he too has stepped outside the royal bloodlines and is now openly dating actress meghan markle. >> reporter: do you think diana would get a kick out of the fact that harry is now dating this american actress? >> i think she'd adore meghan markle. and i think diana allowed all these things to happen because of how she changed the monarchy. and those boys are the living embodiment of diana. their approach to how they deal with the public is the diana approach. >> reporter: diana raised her children to be more casual and more open. and just last month harry showed how open they can be. he revealed that after enduring two years of "total chaos" struggling to cope with the loss of his mother, he sought professional counseling. >> all of a sudden this grief which i had never processed started to come to the

forefront, and i was like, there's actually a lot of stuff here i need to deal with. >> reporter: and prince william recently opened up about coping with his mother's death too, in a bbc documentary called "mind over marathon." >> you never get over it. it's such an unbelievably big moment in your life that it never leaves you, you just learn to deal with it. >> reporter: it's another remarkable example of a less rigid, more accessible monarchy which was of course initiated by princess diana. >> reporter: even the queen has changed her royal ways thanks, perhaps, in part to diana. remember this amazing moment at the 2012 olympics in london? >> who would have thought that the queen would have acquiesced and agreed to landing in the olympic arena. but that just sort of gives you an idea of how things have changed. >> reporter: diana also tackled issues that weren't always so

comfortable. going places and meeting people who were all too often left behind. now her children are also doing the same. >> our visits with our mother ignited a deep and great interest for the great work the charity does for the homeless. >> reporter: two decades after diana walked through a minefield in angola, son harry literally followed in her footsteps continuing her work to rid the world of landmines by 2025. >> let's make future generations proud and finish what we started. >> they have passed that on to her sons. and that's why william and harry, and indeed kate, do now seem to be universally popular, because they've learned that lesson. >> reporter: lessons to ensure that princess diana's work will forever remain relevant. to d today in paris on the overpass atop the now infamous tunnel where diana died is a shrine of

sorts, a place where people from all over to the world leave flowers. a note. a name. to honor the woman they never knew but will always remember. a princess who was much more than a royal, she was also one of us. i'm lester holt. for all of us at nbc news, goodnight. next at 11, he says he was shot in the head with an arrow. >> must have hit me pretty hard. >> his run in with the man arrested in an infamous bay area murder. next.

i felt like i got hit with a club. but it turned out to be an arrow from shawn gallon. >> shot by an arrow. but he lived to tell about it. right now at 11:00, his run in with the man investigators are now linking to a sonoma county double murder. the news at 11:00 starts now. good evening, everyone. thank you for joining us i'm jessica aguirre. >> i'm raj matthai. this double murder stunned the north bay nearly 13 years ago. tonight new revelations. just weeks before their