On August 31, 1997, one of the strangest car accidents occurred in Paris. It killed Diana Francis Spencer, better known as Princess Diana – the first wife of the heir to the British throne, Prince Charles of Wales. Being in the rank of the third woman in the kingdom of Great Britain, Diana earned popular love for her attitude towards her children and charitable work.

People all over the world empathized with Diana’s divorce from Charles and tried to sort out her relationship with producer Dodi Al Fayed. The disaster was a real shock for the whole world – 3 million people came to the funeral, and 2.5 billion people watched the television broadcast of the ceremony. The £12.5m litigation only ended in 2008, but the fatal accident in the Alma tunnel in Paris is still considered one of the most mysterious accidents in history.

Stanley Culbreath, a retired lawyer and witness to the car accident that killed Princess Diana, broke a 25-year silence to share his take on what happened on August 31, 1997.

According to the lawyer, Lady Dee’s chances of surviving would have been much better if the French emergency services had worked faster.

He wonders if it was the princess, why did it take 20 minutes to get her out of the car? And why did the ambulance drive past one hospital and take her to another?

Culbreath said that after 20 years, he never ceases to doubt whether it was really an accident. “I have always considered it suspicious that other facts played a role here.”

Culbreath arrived in Paris on August 31, 1997, the French capital as part of a European tour that he went on with his friends. They arrived in the city a few hours before the accident and went on a night tour of the Eiffel Tower. When they returned to the hotel in a taxi, having entered the Pont de l’Amme tunnel, they saw the smoldering wreckage of the princess’s car.

The man says that he was struck by how long the ambulance went and the inaction of the police. While at the scene, still unaware that Princess Diana was the victim of the accident, he told his friend, “Damn, a drug addict on Main Street would have had to wait less.”

“There was only one policeman that I saw, and he asked us to move away. And all the time he repeated “back, back.” According to Stanley, it seemed that those who were there decided not to do anything. And it took a very long time to get the princess out of the car.

Perhaps the time it took for the ambulance to arrive significantly reduced her chances of life.

Speaking of the Princess of Wales, Mr Culbreth added: “I think Diana was a wonderful person. She has always lived for people and dedicated herself to a common goal.”

Culbreath, who was not called to the investigation, said that he still did not give an interview in order to protect Diana’s children.