Diana: Death of a Goddess

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Diana: Death of a Goddess
Diana, Death of a Goddess Cover.jpg
AuthorDavid Cohen
LanguageEnglish
Subject Princess Diana
PublisherCentury
Publication date
2004
Pages263
ISBN 1-84413-795-3
OCLC 224109942

Diana: Death of a Goddess is a book about the death of Diana, Princess of Wales by psychiatrist and documentarian David Cohen. It was published in 2004 by Century, an imprint of Random House. A continuation of Cohen's 2003 documentary film on the same topic, Diana: The Night She Died, the book explores conspiracies surrounding the event and concludes that her death was at least partially accidental. It also connects her death and the circumstances around it to the Order of the Solar Temple, a French cult notorious for several mass suicides in the 1990s.

Contents

The book was a bestseller. It received mixed reviews; its research and some of its conclusions were praised. Some reviewers called it sensationalized, while others praised it for not being sensational. Particular criticism was targeted at the book's theories about the Solar Temple, previously expounded in a different documentary by the same author, which were criticized as unsubstantiated, inconsistent with the known facts about that group and based off the words of a known fraudster.

Background

Author

David Cohen was born in Haifa, Israel. [1] As a child, he lived in Paris and Geneva, before moving to the United Kingdom. [2] He has a PhD in psychology and is a psychiatrist. He has directed several documentaries and written other books of an "exploratory" nature. [3] [2] He was nominated for a BAFTA award for his creation of a film on the Soham murders. [1]

Previous documentaries

In 1996, Cohen made a documentary about the French Order of the Solar Temple (OTS) cult, which had many of its members die in a series of mass suicides in the 1990s. The documentary was titled "Death of the Solar Temple" (part of the Witness documentary series) and aired on Channel 4. [4] [1] It debates the official telling of the deaths. [4] Following the release of this film, Cohen was contacted by a man calling himself "Guy Leroux", refusing to reveal his true identity, who gave him information claiming to prove Grace Kelly's involvement in the order. [1] [5] Leroux claimed to have been a former member of the OTS and Di Mambro's personal driver. He claimed that Kelly had been initiated, along with several other other famous people, into the OTS in 1982. [5] [6] According to Leroux, Kelly's death, deemed an accident, was actually a plot by the group's leader after she stopped paying them, and the massacres were actually a plot by the Italian mafia. [5] [1] Cohen used this information to make another documentary on Grace Kelly, [1] "Secret Lives: Grace Kelly", [7] alongside David Carr-Brown. [6] [5] It aired on Channel 4 in December 1997. [7]

Following the release of the Kelly documentary, Swiss journalist Arnaud Bédat, who researched the OTS, tracked Leroux down and interviewed him. Bédat, having found out his real identity, Guy Mouyrin, said that Leroux had lied about multiple elements of his history and also had multiple prior criminal convictions for fraud, theft, blackmail, and document forgery. He was known by those around him as someone who made up stories, and was then wanted by the Swiss police for over 100 instances of fraud and robbery, known as a "professional con artist". [5] [6] None of the former members of the Solar Temple could recall having ever met Leroux, and the story was contradictory to facts about the Solar Temple, as it had not even existed when the initiation of Kelly had supposedly taken place in 1982 (the OTS was founded in 1984). [5] Kelly's name is also not mentioned in the relatively complete lists of Solar Temple members that were left behind. [6]

When questioned about this by Bédat, Cohen admitted that he did not thoroughly check Leroux's background, and did not know his real identity (or that he was wanted by Swiss police). [5] Cohen himself said in 2017 that he was "convinced that Guy believed the story he had been told", and admitted that the idea was far-fetched. [1] After her death, Leroux also told Cohen that someone else (who he knew through the Solar Temple connection) had told him that they had been paid £500,000 to kill Princess Diana, but it went wrong. [1] [8] Following this he started a documentary on DIana, [1] and in 2003, Cohen released a documentary about Diana's death, Diana: The Night She Died, which aired on Channel 5. [9] [10] In 2017, he made an updated version of the 2003 film, Diana: 20 Years On. [1] He followed the 2003 documentary up with Diana: Death of a Goddess. [10]

Contents

The book is largely based off of interview testimony, including police contacts and intelligence officials, as well as the person who claimed he had been hired to kill Diana. [11] The book's back cover displays what is purported to be a photo of the car that crashed, shortly before it occurred, [3] while the book's cover claims that it contains "SENSATIONAL new material" on her death. [10] The photo is not actually the last known photo before the crash. [10]

In the prologue, Cohen then discusses how Guy had contacted him shortly after Diana's death, and how he had met Guy and the story of the Order of the Solar Temple, as well as Guy's claimed involvement in the organization, and the connection to Grace Kelly. Cohen claims that he had been able to confirm most of Guy's information. Following her death, Guy gave him new information that was claimed to show a parallel the Grace Kelly death, with a plot to kill her. Cohen says that he is generally skeptical of conspiracy theories, and that the book is the result of his attempt to confirm or deny what Guy had told him about the plot to kill Diana.

After tracing the history of Diana's relationships and her previous life, he traces the chronology of the crash and the police and paparazzi involvement. He criticizes the French investigation. He accuses them of silencing the witnesses, and not investigating a claim that Diana had cocaine in Diana's bag, which he says they covered up. The book also investigates the death of James Andanson, a paparazzo photographer who Cohen connects to the case through the claimed Fiat Uno. He argues Andanson may have been a secret service agent. He also connects Prince Charles to the Solar Temple. Cohen also disputes the idea that Henri Paul was drunk at the time of the crash. Cohen argues that it is plausible given what he knows that Charles's associates decided to kill Diana to make sure that she did not cause him problems. He concludes that there was a conspiracy, but the crash was "at least partly" an accident.

Publication and reception

Diana: Death of a Goddess was published in 2004 by Century, an imprint of Random House. [9] It was again published by Arrow (also an imprint of Random House) in 2005. The book was a bestseller. [1]

It received mixed reviews. Beryl Bainbridge writing for New Statesman called it a "good read" that "goes a long way towards raising doubts" about the official ruling of the case. She said the book "uncovers much that was deliberately concealed", and praised it for being informational without becoming sensational, saying the book gave a "riveting" account of Henri Paul's life. [9] The Sunday Age said the book's title "reflects the idealised and cult-like status" that Diana had achieved after her death. They contrasted this to the book itself, which they noted never used the word goddess, calling it not an attempt to explore her appeal, but instead "the most sensational investigation to date of what happened in the tunnel below the Place de l'Alma in Paris." [11] Gary Manning, a reviewer from the Telegraph-Journal , said that despite its title it did not offer much insight into the perception of Diana or her status as a "goddess". [3] The Weekend Australian said the book "appears to have been written and edited in haste", with "appalling punctuation, frequent repetition and spelling errors", probably in an effort to make sure it was published before the inquest into Diana's death began. [2]

Manning said that if one read the book "without considering who the victims were", one would come to the conclusion that the only coverup was one of "pervasive ineptitude". He said Cohen offered psychological insight into the case, but that he found himself unconvinced by Cohen's proposed evidence for conspiracy, with the "strings [being] too tenuous" and it not leading to any "solid conclusion". [3] The Sunday Age'said it presented "credible sounding evidence" to the idea that "the truth lies at both ends of the spectrum" (between conspiracy or pure accident). [11] Manning called the information the book provided on the final hours of Diana's life, as well as the "monumental number of questionable actions and decisions" fascinating, and said the book was a clear condemnation of the incompetence of the authorities. [3] The Weekend Australian said that its "well-rounded conclusions" and "detective work" were persuasive. [2] In the book Diana: The Last Days, author Martyn Gregory wrote that the "input of Fayed and John Macnamara is all over Cohen’s work" on Diana, which damaged their quality. [10]

Solar Temple theories

The book's theories connecting the Solar Temple were criticized by several commentators. [11] [12] [3] The Sunday Age said that though many of Cohen's conclusions seemed credible, the Solar Temple link required "a stretch of the imagination". [11] Manning noted the connection as "a strand in the conspiracy web that hasn't been examined before". [3] Jean-François Mayer, a researcher of the Solar Temple, cited the book as one of many works promoting "far-fetched rumors linking the Solar Temple to all kinds of criminal cases and other mysterious events", with Cohen speaking to dubious figures in his investigation on the group. He said that there was no trace of any such tie substantiated by the investigation into the OTS. [12]

The claim of the connection to Grace Kelly likely stems from the fact that Jean-Louis Marsan, the Grand Master of the Sovereign Order of the Solar Temple (OSTS), was a childhood friend of Rainier III, Prince of Monaco, Kelly's husband. Despite the name, the OSTS was a different neo-Templar order and had little to no connection to the Solar Temple, though Marsan had met its leader on one occasion. [6] [5]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Order of the Solar Temple</span> Esoteric new religious movement (1984–1997)

The Order of the Solar Temple, or simply the Solar Temple, was a new religious movement and secret society, often described as a cult, notorious for the mass deaths of many of its members in several mass murders and suicides throughout the 1990s. The OTS was a neo-Templar order, claiming to be a continuation of the Knights Templar, and incorporated an eclectic range of beliefs with aspects of Rosicrucianism, Theosophy, and New Age ideas. It was led by Joseph Di Mambro, with Luc Jouret as a spokesman and second in command. It was founded in 1984, in Geneva, Switzerland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Luc Jouret</span> Belgian religious leader (1947–1994)

Luc Georges Marc Jean Jouret was a Belgian religious leader, doctor and homeopath. Jouret founded the Order of the Solar Temple (OTS) with Joseph Di Mambro in 1984. He committed suicide in the Swiss village of Salvan on 5 October 1994 as part of a mass murder–suicide. While Di Mambro was the true leader of the group, Jouret was its outward image and primary recruiter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michel Tabachnik</span> Swiss conductor and composer (born 1942)

Michel Tabachnik is a Swiss conductor and composer with an international career. A promoter of contemporary music, he has premiered a dozen works by Iannis Xenakis, among others. He is also the author of essays on music and novels. In 1995, he was implicated in the case regarding the mass murder-suicides of the Order of the Solar Temple, from which he was acquitted by the courts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Death of Diana, Princess of Wales</span> 1997 fatal car crash

During the early hours of 31 August 1997, Diana, Princess of Wales, died from injuries sustained earlier that night in a car crash in the Pont de l'Alma tunnel in Paris, France. Dodi Fayed and the driver of the Mercedes-Benz W140, Henri Paul, were found dead inside the car. Dodi's bodyguard, Trevor Rees-Jones, was seriously injured but was the only survivor of the crash.

Jean-Marie Abgrall is a French psychiatrist, criminologist, specialist in forensic medicine, cult consultant, graduate in criminal law and anti-cultist. He has been an expert witness and has been consulted in the investigations of cults. Abgrall is known as a proponent of brainwashing theories.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joseph Di Mambro</span> French religious leader (1924–1994)

Joseph Léonce Di Mambro was a French religious leader who founded and led the Order of the Solar Temple with Luc Jouret. Di Mambro had been associated with a variety of esoteric groups before founding OTS. He was previously convicted of several counts of fraud, including impersonation of a psychiatrist, leading him to flee France in the 1970s. He founded the Solar Temple with Jouret in 1984. He committed suicide in the Swiss village of Salvan on 5 October 1994 as part of a mass murder–suicide.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Conspiracy theories about the death of Diana, Princess of Wales</span>

There are many conspiracy theories surrounding the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, on 31 August 1997. Official investigations in both Britain and France found that Diana died in a manner consistent with media reports following the fatal car crash in Paris. In 1999, a French investigation concluded that Diana died as the result of a crash. French investigator, Judge Hervé Stephan, concluded that the paparazzi were some distance from the Mercedes S280 when it crashed and were not responsible for manslaughter. After hearing evidence at the British inquest, a jury in 2008 returned a verdict of "unlawful killing" by driver Henri Paul and the paparazzi pursuing the car. The jury's verdict also stated: "In addition, the death of the deceased was caused or contributed to by the fact that the deceased were not wearing a seat belt and by the fact that the Mercedes struck the pillar in the Pont de l'Alma tunnel rather than colliding with something else."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edith Bonlieu</span> French alpine skier (1934–1995)

Marie Édith Jeanne Vuarnet was a French alpine skier. She competed in the women's downhill at the 1956 Winter Olympics, and was a three time champion in the French downhill competition. She was a member of the Order of the Solar Temple and died in a mass murder-suicide on 16 December 1995, alongside other members including her youngest son, Patrick.

On the morning of 16 December 1995, 16 members of the Order of the Solar Temple died in a mass murder-suicide in a clearing in the Vercors, near the village of Saint-Pierre-de-Chérennes in Isère, France. Two members of the group, Jean-Pierre Lardanchet and André Friedli, shot and killed 14 other members, including three children, before setting the bodies on fire and killing themselves. This was done in order to facilitate a spiritual voyage to the star Sirius, a "transit", as it had been in previous mass suicides.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arnaud Bédat</span> Swiss journalist and author (1965–2023)

Arnaud Bédat was a Swiss journalist and author. He worked for L'Illustré. His works often focused on high profile cases, including the Swissair Flight 111 and the Order of the Solar Temple. Other books of his covered Pope Francis and the disappearance of French TV host Philippe de Dieuleveult. He was a regular commentator on French television, particularly Faites entrer l'accusé, C dans l'air, Zone d'ombre, and 50 minutes Inside.

<i>Temple Solaire: lenquête impossible</i> French docuseries

Temple Solaire: l'enquête impossible, released in English as Sirius: An Apocalyptic Order, is a 2022 French documentary miniseries, covering the Order of the Solar Temple affair. It was directed by Raphaël Rouyer and Nicolas Brénéol. The Solar Temple was a religious group that committed mass murder-suicide in several incidents in the 1990s, killing 74 people in France, Switzerland and Canada. It focuses in particular on the three journalists Gilles Bouleau, Arnaud Bédat and Bernard Nicolas, who investigated the case.

<i>The Order of the Solar Temple: The Temple of Death</i> 2006 book by James R. Lewis

The Order of the Solar Temple: The Temple of Death is an edited volume about the Order of the Solar Temple (OTS), a religious group notorious for the mass deaths of its members in several mass murders and suicides throughout the 1990s. It was edited by James R. Lewis, and published in 2006 by Ashgate Publishing as part of its Controversial New Religions series. Contributors to the book include Jean-François Mayer, Massimo Introvigne, Susan J. Palmer, and George D. Chryssides.

<i>La Fraternité</i> 2023 documentary miniseries

La Fraternité is a Swiss documentary television miniseries about the Order of the Solar Temple (OTS), notorious for numerous mass murder suicides in the 1990s. It was directed by Pierre Morath and Éric Lemasson, and premiered in February 2023 on RTS. The documentary features archival materials on the group that were previously unreleased, including videos that had been produced by the OTS itself. It also features interviews with former members, investigators, and researchers into the group.

<i>Les Chevaliers de la mort</i> 1996 book

Les Chevaliers de la mort: Enquête et révélations sur l'Ordre du Temple Solaire is a book by journalists Arnaud Bédat, Gilles Bouleau and Bernard Nicolas, covering the Order of the Solar Temple, notorious for the mass murder-suicides committed by the group in the 1990s. It was co-published in December 1996 by L'Illustré and TF1 Éditions, and published in Canada by Libre Expression the next month.

<i>Les Mystères sanglants de lOTS</i> 2006 TV documentary

Les Mystères sanglants de l'OTS is a 2006 television documentary directed by Yves Boisset discussing the Order of the Solar Temple, a religious group notorious for the mass deaths of its many members in several mass murder-suicides throughout the 1990s. It first aired on the Infrarouge block on France 2 on 2 February 2006. The documentary features interviews with several former members and journalists who question the official narrative.

<i>Vie et Mort de lOrdre du Temple Solaire</i> 1994 book by Carl-A. Keller and Raphaël Aubert

Vie et Mort de l'Ordre du Temple Solaire is a 1994 book about the Order of the Solar Temple, written by Carl-A. Keller and Raphaël Aubert. The Solar Temple was a notorious group active in Switzerland in the 1990s, known for the mass suicides of several of its members throughout the 1990s. The book was published in December 1994 by Éditions de l'Aire, just two months after the first deaths. It was the first book about the group.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bibliography of the Order of the Solar Temple</span>

Following the Order of the Solar Temple affair – a case that gained international notoriety when members of the group, a then-obscure neo-Templar group, orchestrated several mass suicides and mass murders in the 1990s – there have been several books and studies published about the events and organization. The case became a media sensation, with many conspiracy theories promoted by the media. As described by Susan J. Palmer, "false or unverifiable trails have been laid: secondhand testimonies are traded by journalists, ghost-written apostate memoirs are in progress and conspiracy theories abound."

On 22 March 1997, five members of the Order of the Solar Temple (OTS) committed mass suicide in Saint-Casimir, Quebec, setting their house on fire with them inside. Among the dead were two couples: Didier and Chantal Quèze and Bruno Klaus and Pauline Riou, as well as Chantal's mother Suzanne Druau. The three children of the Quèzes had initially been included in the suicide plan, but the first attempt to initiate the suicide failed. After the failure of the first attempt, they confronted their parents, and convinced them that they wanted to live and were let go. Following two more unsuccessful attempts to orchestrate the suicide, the final attempt, with help from the children, was successful.

From 30 September to 5 October 1994, 53 members or former members of the Order of the Solar Temple died in a series of mass murders and suicides in Morin-Heights, Quebec, Canada, and in Cheiry and Salvan in Switzerland. The Solar Temple, or OTS, was founded in 1984, active in several Francophone countries. The group was led by Joseph Di Mambro with Luc Jouret as a second in command; the group had a theological doctrine that by committing suicide, one would not die, but "transit"; they conceptualized the transit as a ritual involving magic fire, where they would undergo a spiritual voyage to the star Sirius, where they would continue their lives.

In 2001 Swiss composer and orchestral conductor Michel Tabachnik was tried in the Grenoble criminal court, over his involvement in the Order of the Solar Temple (OTS) religious movement. The Solar Temple was an esoteric and eclectic new religious movement and secret society, often described as a cult, that had been involved in several high profile mass-murder suicides in the 1990s. Tabachnik was accused of brainwashing the followers into the suicides and having known about the plans beforehand. Tabachnik was the only person tried in the aftermath of the Solar Temple deaths; he was found not guilty in the 2001 trial and in the 2006 appeal trial.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Frazer, Jenni (25 August 2017). "Princess Diana: Twenty years on, and the theories multiply". The Jewish Chronicle . Retrieved 11 December 2024.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Kurosawa, Susan (15 May 2004). "A case for conspiracy". The Weekend Australian . Canberra. p. 9. ISSN   1038-8761.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Manning, Gary (2 October 2004). "Diana book exposes conspiracy of incompetence: But, take author's claims about Solar Temple cult with a grain of salt". Telegraph-Journal . Saint John. p. 20. ISSN   0837-3736 . Retrieved 11 December 2024– via Newspapers.com.
  4. 1 2 Sutcliffe, Thomas (9 October 1996). "Review". The Independent . No. 3112. London. p. 56. Retrieved 14 December 2024– via Newspapers.com.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Bédat, Arnaud (7 January 1998). "Grace de Monaco membre du Temple solaire? Les dessous d'un scoop bidon" [Grace of Monaco a member of the Solar Temple? Behind the scenes of a bogus scoop]. L'Illustré (in Swiss French). pp. 22–24. Retrieved 23 September 2024– via Scriptorium.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 Introvigne, Massimo (2000). "The Magic of Death: The Suicides of the Solar Temple". In Wessinger, Catherine (ed.). Millennialism, Persecution, and Violence: Historical Cases. Syracuse University Press. p. 144. ISBN   978-0-8156-0599-7.
  7. 1 2 "Secret life behind the fairy story". Daily Echo . Bournemouth. 29 December 1997. p. 15. Retrieved 14 December 2024– via Newspapers.com.
  8. ↑ "No dead certainty". Dorset Echo . 3 April 2004. ISSN   2515-852X . Retrieved 11 December 2024.
  9. 1 2 3 Bainbridge, Beryl (31 May 2004). "Dangerous liaisons". New Statesman . Vol. 17, no. 809. pp. 51–52. ISSN   1364-7431.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 Gregory, Martyn (2010). Diana: The Last Days. Random House. p. 279. ISBN   978-0-7535-4431-0.
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 Verlander, Helen (30 May 2004). "Diana: A never-ending story". The Sunday Age . Melbourne. p. 23. ISSN   1034-1021 . Retrieved 11 December 2024.
  12. 1 2 Mayer, Jean-François (2014). "The Order of the Solar Temple: From Apocalypse to Court". In Richardson, James T.; Bellanger, François (eds.). Legal Cases, New Religious Movements, and Minority Faiths. Farnham; Burlington: Ashgate. p. 51–52. ISBN   978-1-4724-2874-5.
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