The Bodyguard's Story : Diana, the Crash and the Sole Survivor

Rees-Jones, Trevor; Johnston, Moira

ISBN 10: 0752841300 ISBN 13: 9780752841304

Publisher: Orion Pub Co, 2004

Synopsis

Diana, Princess of Wales’s bodyguard Trevor Rees-Jones miraculously survived the fatal car crash in Paris that seemed to plunge the entire world into mourning. At last having made a recovery from his catastrophic injuries, Trevor Rees-Jones grippingly describes his part in these astonishing events, and what really happened before, during and after the crash. Compelling, alarming and deeply moving, it is a remarkable story of courage under fire and how ordinary people react to extraordinary circumstances.

About this title

About the Author:

Trevor Rees-Jones was born in 1968. A former soldier, he joined the security staff of Mohamed Al Fayed, the controversial Egyptian multi-millionaire owner of Harrods, and worked as personal bodyguard to his son Dodi, up to the Paris car crash which killed him and Diana. He was later party to the subsequent French investigation and resigned from his job with Fayed in 1988. He now lives in Oswestry, Shropshire. Mark Bazeley is a rising stage and screen actor shortly to star in Hearts and Bones, the new BBC series about nine young people, tagged as Friends meets This Life. On stage, he’s appeared with award-winning Stephen Dillane in The Real Thing. He previously read the audio of True.

Review:

THE BODYGUARD'S STORY is that rare thing: a thriller told by an unexcitable man. After all those feverish rival accounts of Diana and her motives - the 'I Loved Her Better Than You * school of memoir - this book is like drinking a long cold glass of water . . . Trevor Rees-Jones's straightforwardness is a virtue that looks all the more impressive in such a crooked story' * Telling my story in a book is the last thing I ever dreamed I'd be doing", writes Trevor Rees-Jones in the introduction to his autobiography, The Bodyguard's Story. Rees-Jones's life changed irrevocably on the night of Saturday, August 31, 1997, when the car he was travelling in crashed in a certain Alma tunnel in Paris. The car contained no ordinary passengers--Rees-Jones was the bodyguard of Dodi Fayed, companion of Diana, Princess of Wales. Dodi, Diana and driver Henri Paul were all killed, leaving Rees-Jones as the sole survivor, fighting for his life having suffered appalling injuries. His face was crushed beyond recognition and had to be extensively reconstructed under expert surgical care. Rees-Jones left hospital after a month, intending to continue with his life as far as possible and his work for his employer, Dodi's father, Mohamed Al Fayed. Yet his situation became increasingly fraught in the wake of the death of the Princess of Wales, one of the late 20th-century's most potent icons. As the grief-stricken Fayed tried desperately to find someone to blame for the death of his son, it was only a matter of time before Rees-Jones became embroiled in the web of recriminations and accusations. The Bodyguard's Story tells the story of the summer leading up to the fatal accident; as Rees-Jones, speaking openly for the first time, describes a world of extreme wealth, paparazzi-dodging and the increasingly volatile situation between the press, Dodi, Diana and their minders as the summer dragged on. Realising his life could never return to what it had been, Rees-Jones aims to set the record straight with his first-hand account. "They'd died on my shift, and I'll live with that for the rest of my life. But I look in the mirror every day and know that I did the best I could. * Kate Weaver, AMAZON.CO.UK * He is a brave man and his story is gripping. * Sunday TELEGRAPH * Wholly remarkable . . . Astonishing . . . This brave and inspiring book deserves to be blessed a thousandfold * Craig Brown, MAIL on Sunday *

About this edition

• Publisher: Orion Pub Co
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 0752841300
• ISBN 13: 9780752841304
• Binding: Audio Cassette