Remarkably Fit, Diana’s Bodyguard Leaves Hospital

Bodyguard Trevor Rees-Jones, the only survivor of the crash that killed Princess Diana, left a Paris hospital and returned to Britain on Friday, apparently unable to provide investigators with crucial details of her final moments.

Wearing a cast on his left forearm, he seemed in surprisingly good shape when he walked from a French government emergency service helicopter to a helicopter sent by his employer, Mohammed Fayed.

Rees-Jones, 29, strolled easily and briskly--if somewhat hunched over--across the tarmac at a heliport outside Paris, showing little sign of the severe facial and chest injuries he suffered in the Aug. 31 crash. Wearing dark glasses and sneakers, he transferred from helicopter to helicopter without assistance.

The brief TV images, taken from afar, were the first glance the public has had of him since the crash that killed Diana, her boyfriend, Dodi Fayed, who was Mohammed Fayed’s son, and driver Henri Paul.

Rees-Jones spent 33 days at Pitie-Salpetriere Hospital in Paris before Fayed’s helicopter flew him to a secret location in Britain.

“Trevor Rees-Jones is recuperating from grave injuries. He needs peace and quiet,” Fayed said. “We do not propose to comment on his whereabouts or movements.”

French investigators are hoping to travel to Britain in two weeks to interview the wounded man again.

After questioning Rees-Jones for a second time Thursday, police reported he had taken “a step forward” in recalling the night of the accident, but still couldn’t remember the crash itself. Rees-Jones was able to describe the moments after the Mercedes left the Ritz Hotel and before it arrived at the Rue de Rivoli a block away, a police official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

That could shed light on the behavior of paparazzi tailing the Mercedes. When shown pictures of them, Rees-Jones was able to identify two photographers under investigation in the crash, a police source said.

Rees-Jones already had told investigators that it was Fayed who came up with the idea of sending a decoy vehicle to mislead the paparazzi, and who called driver Paul to drive the Mercedes. This time, he added that Diana herself played a “passive role,” letting others make the plans without comment, police said.

More and more, police appear to be giving weight to physical evidence, and leaning toward the theory that a second car was involved in the crash. The theory holds that the Mercedes, speeding toward the tunnel, had to swerve to avoid a car, perhaps one entering the approach road from the right; the Mercedes then brushed the car and lost control.

Investigators also have been focusing on the driver and his condition as a likely cause of the crash. Tests have shown Paul was drunk and on prescription drugs at the time.