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A drama series following the many conspiracy theories that have surrounded the death of Princess Diana called "Who Killed Lady Di?" is in production, according to Variety.
Scripts for the proposed mini-series are being written by Julien Lilte in collaboration with Martine Monteil, the head of the criminal investigation division of the French police when Princess Diana was killed in a 1997 Paris car crash.
The production is being led jointly by London-based Headline Pictures and French partners, Itineraire Productions.
The co-founder of Itineraire Productions, Pierre Laugier, told Variety the mini-series will explore the many conspiracy theories surrounding the death of Princess Diana through the lens of a British fan who starts a blog titled "Who Killed Lady Di?"
He said: "This is one the first major cultural events that went viral and spurred an avalanche of fake news and even a wave of suicides...the late 1990s marked the beginning of online tabloids."
No casting announcement for who might play Diana in the series has yet been made. The production is set to add to the long list of those portraying the princess in film and television over recent years.
Screen Portrayals
In 2020, Diana was shown as a lead character in Season 4 of Netflix drama The Crown, played by Emma Corrin. The streaming giant rebuffed calls for it to show a disclaimer at the beginning of each episode following a backlash from royal fans who claimed that the show's misrepresentation of historical events could lead viewers to engage with the content as fact rather than a fictional portrayal based on real life events.
In 2021, yet another screen adaptation of Diana's life was released in the form of the film Spencer by Chilean filmmaker Pablo Larraín. Actress Kristen Stewart was nominated for an Academy Award following her character study of the princess's life during the breakdown of her marriage.
This year will see the release of Season 5 of The Crown, which is expected to cover the period of Queen Elizabeth II's life during the period when Diana died, with the princess played by actress Elizabeth Debicki. There will also be a portrayal in a BBC drama about notorious British pedophile Jimmy Savile.
The conspiracy theories that "Who Killed Lady Di?" will cover arose in the immediate aftermath of the princess's death, which occurred when the car she was traveling in with Harrods heir Dodi Al Fayed crashed in Paris' Pont de l'Alma tunnel.
Al Fayed was pronounced dead at the scene, but the princess received roadside medical assistance and was taken to the Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital where attempts to save her life were unsuccessful.
Initially it was believed that photographers chasing Diana's car were the cause of the crash, but it was later found that the driver of the vehicle, Henri Paul, was under the influence of alcohol at the time of the collision.
Over the following 10 years, a number of conspiracy theories regarding the death of Diana arose, from the preposterous to the legitimately concerning including an unfounded claim that Prince Philip was somehow involved.
In 2007, following "Operation Paget," a legal investigation into the alleged conspiracy theories, an official inquest in London was opened to address its findings and those of the inquest undertaken by French authorities immediately after the accident.
The verdict of the inquest saw a jury find that Diana had been unlawfully killed as a result of the "grossly negligent driving of the following vehicles [the paparazzi] and of the Mercedes driver Henri Paul."
After the verdict was announced, Diana's sons, Prince William and Prince Harry, released a joint statement thanking jurors for the "thorough way in which they have considered the evidence... We agree with their verdicts, and are both hugely grateful to each and every one of them for the forbearance they have shown in accepting such significant disruption to their lives over the past six months."
"Who Killed Lady Di?" is expected to cover many of the conspiracy theories examined in "Operation Paget."
Headline Pictures' Executive Producer Christian Baute told Variety that the mini-series hopes to "highlight the fabrication of the first large-scale conspiracy theory — it was a watershed moment which changed the media perception of how to broadcast and disseminate news."
No planned release date for the series has yet been announced.
About the writer
James Crawford-Smith is a Newsweek Royal Reporter, based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on the British royal family ... Read more