Survivor in Paris Crash That Killed Diana Goes Home

Bodyguard Trevor Rees-Jones, the sole survivor of the Aug. 31 car crash that killed Princess Diana in Paris, flew home to a secret location in Britain on Friday after a month in a Paris hospital.

Rees-Jones, 29, arrived in Britain aboard a helicopter owned by his employer, Mohammed Fayed, whose son Dodi, Diana’s companion, also died in the crash.

The British media were not told where the helicopter landed, and Fayed issued a statement making clear that Rees-Jones’ whereabouts would be secret.

“Trevor Rees-Jones is recuperating from grave injuries. He needs peace and quiet,” the statement said.

Earlier, Rees-Jones, slightly unsteady on his feet and with his left forearm in a cast, was able to walk to Fayed’s helicopter, painted in the green and gold colors of the billionaire’s Harrods store, at Issy-les-Moulineaux airport in southwest Paris.

Rees-Jones’ parents, Jill and Ernie, also boarded the helicopter.

To avoid a media crush, he was flown to the airport on another helicopter, which took off from the roof of the hospital.

Rees-Jones wore a red T-shirt and blue baseball cap for the flight after a hospital stay that included a 10-hour operation to repair injuries to his face from the accident.

Doctors gave the green light for Rees-Jones to leave earlier Friday.

He reiterated to investigators Thursday that he was unable to remember details of the crash in which Diana, Dodi Fayed and driver Henri Paul died in a tunnel by the River Seine. Rees-Jones was, however, able to recall events up to when he put on his seat belt in the front seat of the Mercedes-Benz just before it left the Ritz Hotel, where Diana and Dodi Fayed had dinner.

None of the other three people in the car were wearing a belt. Rees-Jones was also protected by an air bag when the car slammed into a concrete pillar at high speed.

An autopsy showed that Paul was legally drunk at the time of the crash.

Nine photographers and a photo agency motorcyclist who were tailing the car are under investigation for manslaughter and failure to assist the accident victims.

Meanwhile, French police are still looking into the possibility that the Mercedes may have hit or swerved to avoid another unidentified car in the tunnel. Sources close to the investigation now say that paint traces on the Mercedes could have come from hitting a white car, not a red one, as earlier reports had said.