what date did diana die?
Let's first nail down our facts. Diana, Princess of Wales, died at age 36 in a car crash in the Pont de l'Alma tunnel in Paris on the night of August 31, 1997. The driver of the car, a Frenchman named Henri Paul, was drunk and driving erratically to outfox a gaggle of paparazzi who were in pursuit of the vehicle.
People Royals. Royals. Princess Diana's Death 18 Years Ago Today: PEOPLE's Royals Reporters Share the Tragedy and Chaos of That Awful Day. Just after midnight on August 31, 1997, news began to surface of a car crash involving the most-photographed and obsessed-over woman of her time: Princess Diana. Her tragic death at age 36 would send shock waves around the globe, and even 18 years later, it remains one of the major news events of the modern age.