The family and best friend of Princess Diana‘s tragic chauffeur Henri Paul have condemned Netflix for ‘raking over the bones’ of her fatal Paris crash in the name of ‘entertainment’.
The latest instalment of the loosely-historical series will include the devastating crash in the early hours of August 31st 1997 in the Pont d’Alma tunnel that claimed the lives of Diana, Dodi Fayed – and chauffeur Henri Paul.
But the incendiary footage and flash-back reconstruction have sparked fury among those closest to former French Air Force pilot Henri Paul who have spent more than two decades living with the fact he was blamed for the most infamous car crash in history.
The row comes after Netflix signed a $100million deal with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex which has already provoked anger from the Royal Family at the way they were treated in last year’s Harry and Meghan documentary series.
The family and best friend of Princess Diana’s tragic chauffeur Henri Paul (pictured) have condemned Netflix for ‘raking over the bones’ of her fatal Paris crash in the name of ‘entertainment’
Alain Paul (pictured), the driver’s only surviving brother, and Claude Garrec, Henri Paul’s best friend, have condemned the filmmakers for exploiting the crash victims and ‘throwing him to the wolves’.
Now The Crown risks a fresh row after pictures emerged showing a replica of the mangled Mercedes which had carried Princess Diana – on set at Elstree Studios
Alain Paul, the driver’s only surviving brother, and Claude Garrec, Henri Paul’s best friend, have condemned the filmmakers for exploiting the crash victims and ‘throwing him to the wolves’.
Speaking from his home in Lorient, France, Mr Paul told MailOnline: ‘I don’t want to have to see the wreckage of a car that my brother died in over and over again. It’s inhumane.
‘This Netflix dramatization of my brother’s death is cruel to me and my family. They did not warn me they were going to bring this tragedy back into the spotlight again.
‘Yet again people are trying to profit from the death of my brother and of Princess Diana.
‘I don’t know how they can call this entertainment. For them it is simply business. And as it’s only business for them they should send me a cheque.
‘They didn’t even have the decency to inform me about it.
‘Every year it’s the same. At the end of August there is someone wanting to rake over the bones of the victims.
‘Me and my family have had to learn to live with it. It destroyed my parents. But now they are dead and my brothers are dead, it is me that has to deal with it on my own.
‘It will bring it all back, the grief, the sadness, the accusations.’
The Crown actors Elizabeth Debicki and Khalid Abdalla pictured filming Princess Diana and Dodi Fayed’s tragic final day
A scene from the upcoming season of Netflix’s ‘The Crown’ is seen filming in October last year
Speaking from his home in Lorient, France, Mr Paul told MailOnline: ‘I don’t want to have to see the wreckage of a car that my brother died in over and over again. It’s inhumane’
He added: ‘This Netflix dramatiziation of my brother’s death is cruel to me and my family. They did not warn me they were going to bring this tragedy back into the spotlight again’
He said: ‘Me and my family have had to learn to live with it. It destroyed my parents. But now they are dead and my brothers are dead, it is me that has to deal with it on my own’
He questioned why the horrific night has to be replayed in a show which has a reputation for taking liberties with the facts
Separate investigations by the French and British authorities concluded that the accident was caused because the car was being driven too fast by Henri Paul who was three times over the legal blood-alcohol limit.
His brother may have come to terms with that, and did not seek to rebut the accusation, but questioned why the horrific night has to be replayed in a show which has a reputation for taking liberties with the facts.
‘Why didn’t they tell me about it?,’ he demanded. ‘He was not a celebrity. He was an ordinary person who died in an accident at work.
‘They just do what they want. I have no way to stop them. I don’t want to go through all this again.’
He added: ‘I’ve never watched The Crown. After the way the British royal family treated my brother I’m not interested in any of their dramas. I don’t speak English and I’ve got no desire to learn the language.
He added: ‘I’ve never watched The Crown. After the way the British royal family treated my brother I’m not interested in any of their dramas. I don’t speak English and I’ve got no desire to learn the language’
Photos of the Netflix film set show a mocked-up entrance of the Ritz Hotel in Paris, the main entrance of Buckingham Palace and the outside of number 10 Downing Street
‘But having said that, I will make a point of watching this series of The Crown when it comes out on Netflix so I know exactly what they say about my brother Henri and how they treat him.
‘These people are totally shameless. They have no respect.’
Photos of the Netflix film set show a mocked-up entrance of the Ritz Hotel in Paris, the main entrance of Buckingham Palace and the outside of number 10 Downing Street.
But it is the gruesome recreation of the wreckage of the black S-class Mercedes that shows a buckled front wheel, a crushed bonnet and the dashboard hanging out of the obliterated front windscreen that have caused outrage.
But it is the gruesome recreation of the wreckage of the black S-class Mercedes that shows a buckled front wheel, a crushed bonnet and the dashboard hanging out of the obliterated front windscreen that have caused outrage
Pictured: The family grave of Princess Diana’s driver Henri Paul in Lorient, Brittany, in France
Businessman Claude Garrec claims returning the spotlight to the tragic events of Paris August 1997 will further smear his old friend’s memory.
Mr Garrec told MailOnline: ‘Henri Paul was my best friend. He was best man at my wedding. I knew him better than anyone.
‘It’s been my life’s work defending him. Yet again he is being thrown to the wolves – this time by Netflix.’
The retired businessman says he will never accept that his friend caused the fatal crash.
Mr Garrec said: ‘I played tennis with Henri in the morning before the accident, like we did every Saturday.
‘After the match we had a drink together, a coke for Henri and a beer for me. He was completely normal.
‘We left each-other and we said see you tomorrow. This was the last time I saw him alive.’
Separate investigations by the French and British authorities concluded that the accident was caused because the car was being driven too fast by Henri Paul who was three times over the legal blood-alcohol limit
Businessman Claude Garrec claims returning the spotlight to the tragic events of Paris August 1997 will further smear his old friend’s memory
Mr Garrec told MailOnline: ‘Henri Paul was my best friend. He was best man at my wedding. I knew him better than anyone’
The retired businessman says he will never accept that his friend caused the fatal crash
He added: ‘He was the best man at my wedding. We were very close. We’d meet up three or four times a week.
‘Whatever anyone says, I know he was not responsible for the crash.
‘I am willing to admit that Henri had a reputation as a bon vivant, but he was someone responsible. I can’t see him getting drunk all evening and then driving. If he took the wheel it was because he knew he could take it, he would not have endangered the lives of others.
‘Some reports have called Henri a drunk driver but I’ve always said, that’s not it at all.
‘Henri was a cultured person, someone who won two music awards, one for the viola, one for the piano.
‘He has been passed off as a drunk, but it has never been acknowledged that Henri Paul was also a human being, someone who had a good life, friends, brothers, and parents who loved him.
‘I hope one day the truth comes out. There are cases that are solved decades later.’
Mr Garrec added: ‘There have always been doubts about what really caused the car crash in Paris that night in 1997. ‘But Henri was made the scapegoat.
‘I will certainly watch the next series of The Crown to see how they treat Henri. ‘But I can guess how they are going to portray him because Netflix have not bothered to contact the people who care about him.’