Trevor Rees-Jones

Trevor Rees-Jones (also known as Trevor Rees; born 1968) is the former bodyguard for Dodi Al-Fayed. He was badly injured in the car accident that killed Diana, Princess of Wales, Dodi Al-Fayed and the driver Henri Paul. Because he suffered a head injury in the crash, Rees-Jones does not recall particulars of the accident. He allegedly survived because he was wearing a seatbelt. [ [http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/9709/21/diana.investigation/"Bodyguard put on seat belt just before Diana car crash.] CNN.com September 21, 1997.] However, a December 2006 "Operation Paget" technical examination said that none of the occupants of the car was wearing a seat belt at the time of the collision.

Rees-Jones suffered serious head injuries in the crash. His face was flattened: numerous bones were broken or crushed. His face was reconstructed from family photographs by a world-class maxillofacial surgeon, Luc Chikhani, using about 150 pieces of titanium to hold the bones together and recreate the original shape. Within a year, his face was nearly back to normal. None of the expenses for the surgery were paid for by Rees-Jones. The cost of his hospital care was borne by Mohamed al-Fayed, Rees-Jones's employer at the time of the crash and the rest was paid for by the British National Health Service (NHS).

Following recovery from the injuries sustained in the crash, Rees-Jones moved to north Shropshire, and for some time worked in a small family-run sportswear shop in the town of Oswestry, on the Welsh border.

Rees-Jones wrote a book (ISBN 0-446-61004-6) about his experiences, with the help of a ghost-writer, Moira Johnston. The book was reconstructed from Rees-Jones' partial memories and those of his family and friends. He decided to write the book because many bizarre stories had circulated about the fatal crash and because Rees-Jones' former employer, Mohamed al-Fayed, had accused him of not doing his job properly. Among the misdeeds he was accused of was wearing a seatbelt: in theory, a bodyguard is supposed to put the safety of the "principal" first, so much so that he ignores his own safety. In other words, he is expendable. In practice, the personal-security profession has many interpretations of this rule.

References

See also

* Death of Diana, Princess of Wales
* ""

External links

* [http://more.abcnews.go.com/sections/world/DailyNews/chat_reesjones0321.html ABC News online chat with Rees-Jones]
* [http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe/01/22/diana.inquest/index.html Trevor Rees-Jones tells "The Bodyguard's Story"]
* [http://www.butler-sloss-inquests.gov.uk/ Official Website of the Inquests into the deaths of Diana, Princess of Wales, and Dodi Fayed]
* [http://www.documentary-film.net/search/video-listings.php?e=32 Princess Diana Death] Documentary about the death of Diana.