On the night of August 31, 1997, Princess Diana and Dodi Fayed left the Ritz Hotel in Paris primarily to escape the swarm of paparazzi that had gathered at the hotel's front entrance. The couple had originally planned to have dinner at a restaurant, but the intense media presence forced them to retreat to the Ritz. To evade the nearly 30 photographers waiting outside, they devised a plan to leave through the hotel's rear service entrance on Rue Cambon while a "decoy" car departed from the front. Their goal was to reach Dodi’s private apartment near the Arc de Triomphe for a more private setting. Unfortunately, this late-night attempt to outmaneuver the press led to the high-speed chase through the Pont de l'Alma tunnel. Despite the secretive exit, several photographers still spotted them, and the resulting pursuit, combined with the driver's high blood-alcohol level, led to the tragic crash that claimed their lives and fundamentally changed royal security protocols.