Princess Diana's life tragically ended when the speeding Mercedes-Benz S280 crashed inside the Pont de l'Alma tunnel in Paris, France. According to BBC, Henri Paul, the driver who perished in the accident had been driving the vehicle at 120 mph. When the Mercedes struck a concrete pillar in the underpass, the speedometer was jammed at 120 mph (196 km/h), according to authorities. Decades later Jean-Francois Musa, the car's owner, has demanded that the French government return the wreckage. "It's legally mine -- [but] I have no idea where the car is," the Etoile Limousines proprietor told the Mirror. "All I know is it is legally mine and obviously I want it back," he added.
He continued, "It should have been returned by now but that hasn't proved possible. I always owned it outright. It wasn't subject to any financing." It has been estimated that the mangled key piece of evidence could be worth a fortune, authorities have calculated it to a whopping £ 10 million. The automobile was housed at a police car pound outside Creteil, on the outskirts of Paris, in a shipping container until 2017. A worker informed a reporter that it had been moved when he visited and asked questions.: "It was kept here but it was moved several years ago. I don't know where it is. You will have to ask the Maire de Paris."
The reporter attempted to extract information from the Mayor's office but was unsuccessful. The current location of the wreckage remains unknown, Musa wants to donate the vehicle to a museum so that people can see it. However, he thinks that the royal family will want it to be disposed of. Etoile Limousines was under a contract with Paris Ritz on the fateful night and had lent the Mercedes for Diana to travel. Due to the Princess of Wales's complicated relationship with the monarch, many conspiracy theories emerged about her sudden death. It has been reported that the French authorities also successfully covered up a mysterious fire incident that damaged important portions of Princess Diana's crashed automobile.
"There was no plot," Musa said while refuting any claims. "This was a routine road accident - the kind all of us dread. It is all very sad." Jean, Paul's father, thought his son had been sacrificed in an attempt to get rid of the princess. He remained adamant until his passing in 2022 that the car had been tampered with and that his son had died while using it. "He knew Henri was a competent driver. He told me, 'The car was old and dangerous and shouldn't have been driven," a family friend named Brittany said.
Lord Stevens, former head of the Metropolitan Police debunked all the popular conspiracy theories surrounding Diana's death saying, "She was so popular. People find it very difficult to understand how someone like that could die in such an accident," he told The London Times. "You will have certain people around who -- whatever the evidence -- will still think there is a conspiracy here. I think it is probably impossible to persuade them otherwise," he concluded.