Trevor Rees-Jones (bodyguard)

Last updated

Trevor Rees-Jones
Born
Trevor Rees

(1968-03-03) 3 March 1968 (age 56)
Rinteln, West Germany
NationalityBritish
OccupationAuthor
Known for Death of Diana, Princess of Wales
Spouses
Sue Jones
​
​
(m. 1995;div. 1997)​
Ann Scott
​
(m. 2003)​

Trevor Rees-Jones (also known as Trevor Rees; born 3 March 1968) is a British author and former bodyguard who was badly injured and the only survivor in the car crash in Paris that killed Diana, Princess of Wales, in 1997. Because he sustained a serious head injury, he does not recall any details from the crash. [1]

Contents

Some media reports claimed he was wearing a seat belt and survived, [2] but investigations revealed that none of the occupants of the car were wearing a seat belt. [3]

Early life

Rees-Jones was born on 3 March 1968 in Rinteln, West Germany, the middle-born of three boys of Colin Rees, a surgeon in the British Army, and Gill, a nurse. He has an older brother, Gareth, and younger brother, John. [4] At ten, he returned with his family to Oswestry, on the Welsh border near his father's childhood home. At Fitzalan High School, he enrolled in the Combined Cadet Force. [4]

Military career and first marriage

In 1987, Rees-Jones enlisted in the 1st Battalion of the Parachute Regiment, served one tour of duty in Northern Ireland and was awarded the General Service Medal. [5]

On 12 August 1995, he married his first wife, Sue Jones, in Oswestry, where the couple had met at Fitzalan High School. [5] Rees-Jones filed for divorce in June 1997. [4]

Car crash, injuries, and aftermath

On 31 August 1997, Rees-Jones was seriously injured in the crash that resulted in the death of Princess Diana. [6] The princess's companion, Dodi Fayed, and their chauffeur, Henri Paul, were found dead inside the car; Rees-Jones was the sole survivor of the crash. He was conscious after the crash. His face was flattened, with numerous bones broken or crushed, and was reconstructed afterwards with old family photographs for guidance by French facial doctor Luc Chikhani, with about 150 pieces of titanium to hold the bones together and to recreate the former shape. Within about one year, his face was nearly back to normal.

Hospital care costs were paid by Dodi's father, Mohamed Al-Fayed, Rees-Jones' employer at the time of the crash, and the rest by the British National Health Service (NHS). At first, it was widely rumoured that Rees-Jones had lost his tongue in the crash, but this was not true. He underwent a ten-hour operation to restore his jaw to its former condition. [5]

After spending more than a month in hospital, Rees-Jones finally returned to the United Kingdom on 3 October 1997. At the time, he was able to communicate only by whispering and writing down answers. [7] He resigned from his job as a bodyguard on 19 May 1998. Al-Fayed was reported as saying that his job would be available if he wished to return. [8]

Recovery and later life

Following recovery from his injuries, Rees-Jones moved back to Oswestry and worked in a shop. [9] He remarried on 15 February 2003, to Ann Scott, a teacher at Belvidere School, Shrewsbury. The ceremony took place in Welshpool, Wales.[ citation needed ]

He wrote a book, published in 2000 and titled The Bodyguard's Story: Diana, the Crash, and the Sole Survivor ( ISBN   0-446-61004-6), about his experiences, with the help of ghostwriter Moira Johnston. The book reconstructed the events from Rees-Jones's partial memories and those of his family and friends. [9]

Rees-Jones is portrayed by actor Harry Anton in season 6 of the TV series The Crown .

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References

  1. ↑ "The guarded words of Trevor Rees-Jones". The Irish Times. 13 March 2000. Retrieved 18 July 2020.
  2. ↑ "Bodyguard put on seat belt just before Diana car crash. CNN 21 September 1997.
  3. ↑ Sephton, Connor (28 August 2017). "Trevor Rees-Jones: What happened to the sole survivor of Diana's crash". Sky News. Retrieved 28 November 2020.
  4. 1 2 3 Searching His Memory People.com
  5. 1 2 3 Hulse, Tim (2 March 1998). "In The News: Trevor Rees-Jones remembers the night of tragedy". The Independent.
  6. ↑ Guyoncourt, Sally (9 January 2024). "Who is Trevor Rees-Jones? Diana's bodyguard and sole survivor of crash". inews.co.uk. Retrieved 5 October 2024.
  7. ↑ Sadler, Brent (3 October 1997). "Diana's bodyguard returns to Britain". CNN. Retrieved 16 October 2012.
  8. ↑ "Diana bodyguard quits job". BBC News. 20 April 1998. Retrieved 11 June 2018.
  9. 1 2 "Diana's Bodyguard: What's the story?". BBC News. 6 March 2000. Retrieved 11 June 2018.
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