Getty Princess Diana's final holiday in the summer of 1997 was one she called "the best holiday of my life." That said, some of the Princess of Wales's closest friends, including Rosa Monckton, warned Diana not to go. As Diana's holiday ended on August 31, 1997, she lost her life as a result of a Paris car crash at just 36 years old. WhenPrincess Dianaaccepted Mohamed Al-Fayed's invitation to join his family for a holiday in the South of France in July 1997, a surprising factor in the decision wasPrince CharlesandCamilla Parker Bowles. Diana had finalized her divorce from the Prince of Wales on August 28, 1996, nearly a year earlier. July 17 would mark Camilla's milestone 50th birthday, and Charles was throwing her a big party to celebrate. Considering Diana's history with Camilla—who was the ever-present third party in her marriage to the future king—it made sense that Diana might like to get out of the U.K. for a while. Diana's biographer Andrew Mortonwrote of her decision, "While she put a brave face on for the event, she knew that the media coverage would only reopen old wounds and reawaken old pains." So Diana accepted Al-Fayed's offer to join him, his wife, and their four children at his villa in St. Tropez for nine days. One of Diana's friends, Rosa Monckton, "advised against accepting," Morton wrote. Several other friends echoed the same concern. Getty Images Ironically, Diana had already been invited to stay in the Hamptons by her billionaire friend Teddy Forstmann, but Diana's security services felt that there wasn't sufficient security for Princess Diana and her sonsPrince WilliamandPrince Harry, who joined her for the July trip. Instead, the three ended up with the Al-Fayeds, including Mohamed's son Dodi, a Hollywood film producer, who Diana met four days into the trip. Diana and Dodi soon hit it off; Diana would later call her vacation "the best holiday of my life." "For once, Diana seemed relaxed and carefree, seemingly oblivious to the watching press as she jet-skied or swam off the beach in front of Fayed's villa," Morton wrote. In his 2023 memoirSpare, Harry wrote, "Everything about that trip to St. Tropez was heaven. The weather was sublime, the food was tasty, Mummy was smiling." Getty Yet, "All the while Prince Charles's shadow loomed in the background," Morton wrote. His decision to host Camilla's birthday party was his official public debut of their relationship after years in the shadows. Because Charles was now open about his romance, it "seemed to have given Diana permission to be open about her love life, as well," Morton wrote. "In short, she was ready for romance." Getty Images As July turned into August, William and Harry headed to Balmoral in Scotland with Charles. Eventually, Diana made her way back to the South of France, where she and Dodi spent time together aboard the Jonikal yacht. On August 24, 1997, the iconic photo of Diana was taken on the Jonikal as she sat at the end of the yacht's diving board. She had just one week to live. On August 30, Diana and Dodi were in Paris; she had plans to reunite with William and Harry just the next day. Richard Kay, a senior journalist atThe Daily Mailwho was close to Diana, was one of the Princess of Wales's last calls that Saturday evening. In reflections written the day after her death (and viaPeople), Kay wrote that Diana was "as happy as I have ever known her." Getty Rumors abounded that Diana and Dodi, despite knowing one another for such a short time, were either engaged or about to be. AsPeoplereported, it is true that Dodi bought a diamond ring in Paris for around $14,000—which, if it was an engagement ring, would have been "something of a let-down for such a big spender," Kay would later put it. As for getting married, Diana's butler Paul Burrell said that Diana had told him that she needed "marriage like a bad rash." Her friend Lady Annabel Goldsmith echoed this. After asking her, "You are not doing anything silly, are you?" Diana responded that she "needed marriage like a rash on her face." Getty Whether it was for an impending proposal or not, as they left the Ritz that night and headed towards Dodi's Paris apartment, Rene Delorm, Dodi's butler, said he was asked that evening to have "the champagne on ice when they returned to the apartment." They never arrived—Diana, Dodi, and their driver Henri Paul were killed after their Mercedes slammed into a pillar in a Paris tunnel not long after midnight on Sunday, August 31, 1997. Dodi and Paul were killed on the scene; Diana died later of her injuries at just 36 years old—making friends' warnings not to go on holiday eerily prescient. Read the original article onInStyle
