It was supposed to a be a romantic evening in Paris - dinner and a drive in one of Princess Diana's favorite cities with her new beau, Dodi Fayed.
Diana's last day included supper at the Ritz Hotel, which is owned by his father, has a 100,000 bottle wine cellar and is known for its seafood.It was to have ended in a private villa - also owned by Dodi's father - across the Seine river in an exclusive district known as the 16th arrondissement.
But the couple never got there, and Diana's hope for a discreet weekend in Paris ended in catastrophe.
After leaving the Ritz around midnight in a car chauffeured by a hotel employee, their black Mercedes, pursued by photographers on motorcycles, slammed into the wall of a tunnel along the Seine River, less than a half-mile from the Eiffel Tower.
The car apparently smashed into a concrete post in the center divider, then bounced into the right wall. The impact crushed the car.
Bleeding profusely in the chest area, Diana was transported to the La Pitie-Salpetriere in southwestern Paris, where doctors operated and then applied heart massage for two hours.
But they failed to get her heart going and Diana died at 4 a.m. from internal bleeding stemming from major chest and lung injuries, said Dr. Bruno Riou, head of intensive care at the hospital.
France had been a favorite destination for Diana and Dodi, whose romance has been front-page news since they took their first Mediterranean cruise in July.
The had frolicked together in the waters off Nice and St. Tropez, where Diana had vacationed in the past.
Diana, 36, spoke some French and seemed at ease in the country, and at one point reportedly had considered buying a home in southern France.
According to French media, the couple left southern France earlier Saturday following a Mediterranean cruise for their second lightning visit to the City of Light.
On July 26, Dodi flew Diana to Paris where she stayed at the Ritz, a luxury hotel filled with authentic Louis XVI furniture where rooms easily run $750 a night.
It was during that visit that Diana visited the home of the later Duke and Duchess of Windsor near the Bois de Boulogne, also owned by Dodi's father.