The unmistakeable blonde head of Diana seen between her bodyguard Trevor Rees Jones and chauffeur Henri Paul
An astonishing sequence of pictures of the final minutes of Princess Diana's life have emerged as the long-awaited inquest into her death finally opened today.
The never-before-seen images, posted on an official website by coroner Lord Justice Scott Baker, includes the last known photograph of Diana alive and graphic scenes of the desperate fight to save her life.
More than ten years after her death in a high speed crash in Paris they bring back with startling clarity the fantastic efforts to keep Diana alive.
The vivid aftermath of the crash contrasts with what must be the most extraordinary final snapshots of Diana's last moments.
Taken by one of the paparazzi, the princess is visible in the rear seat peering back at the pursuing French photographers. To her side Dodi Fayed is hunched forward in his seat.
The Mercedes roars away from the Ritz with Henri Paul, right, at the wheel and Dodi Fayed's bodyguard Trevor Rees-Jones in the passenger seat. In the rear, Princess Diana is looking back at the pursuing paparazzi
The moment of impact. After smashing into pillar 13 in the tunnel, the car cannons into the side wall. The lights of cars travelling in the opposite direction are visible. Witnesses say the Mercedes was doing between 60mph and 93mph
It is just seconds after the couple have left the back entrance of the Ritz Hotel on the fatal journey to Dodi's Paris apartment and provides the last known picture of Diana alive.
But it is the occupants of the front seat that catch the eye.
Trevor Rees-Jones, Dodi's bodygaurd and the only survivor of the terrible accident, holds a protective hand up as he peers into the lens. Beside him the driver Henri Paul - accused by police of being drunk - stares twistedly, almost mockingly, at the camera.
First on the scene is agency photographer Serge Arnal. The force of the crash is clear: the nearside of the Mercedes in which Dodi and Henri Paul had died instantly is crushed. The impact has disordered the exhaust system
By now rescue workers are gathering. It is some time after 12.30am. Inside the stricken Mercedes, the physician Dr Maillez is bent over the Princess's body. He has already ascertained that Dodi and Paul are dead
More paparazzi have arrived. Hands in pockets to the side of the tunnel stand Serge Arnal and Fabrice Chassery, and in the foreground Serge Benamou. A shirt-sleeved fireman reaches into the wreckage of the Mercedes
In one picture Dr Frederic Maillez, the first doctor on the scene, can be clearly seen inside the back of the smashed Mercedes tending to the critically ill princess.
The photos also show the shuddering impact of the black limousine after it collided with pillar 13 - and how the car virtually disintegrated, such was the force of the collision.
A scene of desolation and horror is captured in the seconds after the crash. Passers-by, who included the off-duty Dr Maillez, are seen with policemen, firemen, and the paparazzi.
The crashed car from the front. Inside the rear door Sebastian Dorzee, one of the two police officers who were first on the scene, leans over Diana. At the front in the white shirt is Dorzee's partner, Lino Gagliardone
Sources close to Mohamed Al Fayed, who claims his son and Diana were murdered in an Establishment plot, said the existence of the last picture of the couple surrounded in the front and the rear by photographers proved they were pursued to their death by the paparazzi.
They denied official claims that the picture had been taken seconds after the princess and her lover had left the Ritz Hotel and insisted it was snapped well into their journey.
According to the website, it will be updated daily throughout the inquest with exhibits - including photographs - that are shown to the jury.
It will also contain transcripts, official statements, and details of procedural decisions.
The full extent of the catastrophic crash is clear from this angle. Firemen have cut open the roof to free the Princess and Rees-Jones and remove the bodies of Henri Paul and Dodi Fayed