Their Last Suppers: Legends of History and Their Final Meals (7 page)

• Put the wine, honey, and sugar into a heavy pan and heat gently.
  
• Stud the orange with the cloves and add to the syrup along with the figs and cinnamon. Cover and simmer gently for 5 to 10 minutes. Remove from heat and cool.
  
• Heat ¼ pint double cream with a vanilla pod to almost boiling, then leave to cool for 30 minutes.
  
• Take out the vanilla pod and stir in the remaining cream and ½ tsp castor sugar.
  

DIANA, PRINCESS OF WALES

Despite being born into a royal environment, with her family living on the queen’s Sandringham Estate and the queen herself the chief guest at her parents’ wedding, Diana Spencer was totally unprepared for the staid and disciplined life of a Windsor royal.

Marrying the heir to the throne, Prince Charles, in a fairytale wedding at St. Paul’s Cathedral in front of a worldwide television audience in July 1981 seemed to be a dream come true for her. But although she had two children with the prince, the gap in their ages and many personal differences gradually forced them further and further apart.

With the prince finally confirming his adultery with his longtime consort Camilla Parker-Bowles in a television interview, it was only a matter of time until they separated. In retaliation, Diana gave an interview of her own in 1993, opening the world’s eyes to her
own unhappiness in the marriage, severe postpartum depression, bulimia, and tense relationship with the rest of the royal family.

Pressured by the queen to accept a divorce from Charles, she eventually agreed, and it was granted on August 28, 1996, a day she later described as “the saddest day of my life.”

Away from the restrictive life of the palace and finally single, she threw herself into various charity works, visiting Mother Teresa in 1997 and auctioning off some seventy-nine of her ball gowns for charity, raising more than £3.5 million for the needy.

After years of a loveless marriage, she began to date other men, arriving at one film premiere after another with a string of eligible bachelors. Army Officer James Hewitt was one, and to her horror he wrote a book about their “intimate times.” England rugby captain Will Carling was another partner who helped feed the growing tabloid frenzy that followed her everywhere.

Indeed, for someone who had been so shy and reserved on her entrance to public life, she began to relish the glare of the spotlight. Becoming close friends with Gianni Versace, Elton John, and many other celebrities, she seemed to find a way into the newspaper headlines almost every day.

Her long-time butler, Paul Burrell, revealed that she had had an affair with London heart doctor Hasnat Khan for more than 2 years, and he was often smuggled in and out of her palace home in the trunk of a car to visit her.

For all her outward charm, the princess also had several dark aspects to her character. The last years of her life saw her feuding with her family, particularly her brother and mother, whom she didn’t speak to for months on end. She had a particularly frosty relationship with the queen’s husband, Prince Philip, who had never liked her, and the queen herself, who had taken her son’s side against her at every turn.

Although she became very attached to Hasnat Khan, she soon realized that he was not going to be the long-term answer for her, and so she started dating Dodi Fayed, a multimillionaire son of Mohamed Al-Fayed, the owner of Harrods store in London and the Ritz Hotel in Paris.

Although in the last 3 months of her life records show they saw each other only about fourteen times, Diana was continuously
dropping hints to the media about their possible long-term future together, which encouraged the paparazzi to follow her even more, eager for the latest gossip.

The morning of Saturday, August 30, 1997, found Diana and Dodi on holiday in Sardinia. Encounters with two photographers caused them to leave their vacation home early, to spend an evening in Paris together.

The arrival of the Fayed customized Gulfstream jet, in the distinctive green and gold colors of the Harrods department store, sent a buzz through the press in Paris, who suspected the couple were on the verge of making a big announcement. Looking for some peace and quiet, the couple, driven by her bodyguard Trevor Rees-Jones, left the airport for a tour of Villa Windsor, a home owned by the Fayeds but once occupied by the Duke and Duchess of Windsor.

Once again they were hounded by the paparazzi on motorcycles, who were determined to get as many pictures as they could of the happy couple, sensing an imminent major announcement.

Having always courted the press, Diana now found she could not escape them, even when she wanted to. So the frustrated couple returned to the Ritz to prepare for their evening together and a romantic dinner at the Bistro Chez Benoit in the Rue Saint-Martin.

Perhaps an indication of Dodi’s expectations of the evening was that during the day he had taken possession of a £130,000 diamond solitaire ring he had specially ordered for her some 10 days previously.

Leaving the Ritz for their dinner, they were once again followed by the press, with a dozen motorcycles dogging their every move. They finally decided a quiet night was out of the question and decided to take refuge back at the hotel.

Finally seated for dinner at the famous seafood restaurant L’Esparon, they looked forward to the peaceful end of a long day. But once again nosy onlookers made them unable to really enjoy themselves, so they adjourned to the Imperial Suite to finish their meal. Curiously deciding to finish the evening at Dodi’s apartment across Paris, they designed a scheme to give the waiting paparazzi the slip.

Sending decoy cars from the front of the Ritz, they slipped out of the back door at 12:30 a.m. and into a dark Mercedes driven by
the assistant of security at the Ritz, Henri Paul, once again accompanied by Diana’s bodyguard, Rees-Jones. Their trick didn’t work for long. The Mercedes was quickly spotted and enveloped by even more photographers on motorcycles, constantly snapping away.

The Mercedes sped away down the Rue Cambon, heading for the underpass at Place de L’Alma. For some reason Paul kept accelerating to escape the bikes, and just inside the underpass, he lost control. The car hit the side of the tunnel and then the thirteenth central pillar, the impact crushing the front of the car and spinning it around. The driver and Dodi Fayed were killed instantly, and Rees-Jones, the only one wearing a seat belt, sustained terrible injuries to his face and chest.

Diana lay crumpled with serious head and chest injuries, while around the accident the photographers still swarmed, taking flash photographs of the grisly scene.

The first two police officers at the crash stated that some fifteen paparazzi were aggressively preventing them from tending the injured, precious minutes in which Diana could have been treated. It eventually took fire crews more than 1 hour to cut Diana from the wreckage, and although doctors worked on her for more than 2 hours at the Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital, she was pronounced dead at 4 a.m. that morning.

The whole world was stunned, and England in particular went into a state of shock. Her funeral was the biggest gathering ever in England, and the whole nation mourned her for days. In death, Diana, Princess of Wales, finally became the nation’s Queen of Hearts.

MENUS

Princess Diana and Dodi Fayed had their last dinner at the Imperial Suite, Ritz Hotel, Paris.

For Diana

Asparagus and Mushroom Omelet Appetizerz

Dover Sole with Vegetables Tempura

For Dodi

Grilled Turbot

Tattinger Champagne

Diana’s Favorite Food

Watercress Soup

• Lightly sauté the mushroom slices in 1 oz butter. Keep the asparagus tips warm over a steamer. Melt the remaining butter gently in a 6- to 8-inch omelet pan.
  
• Beat the eggs; add salt and pepper to taste. When the butter has melted and is getting hot, pour the eggs into the pan. Allow the omelet to get firm by moving the soft portions of the egg from the sides gently to the center using a wooden spatula.
  
• When it looks sufficiently firm, flip it; this traps oxygen on the omelet’s underside and makes the dish extra fluffy. If you think flipping is too risky, place the pan under a hot grill for about a minute. Lay the asparagus and mushroom slices in the center and fold out onto a warm plate in a semicircle shape. Serve with fresh lemon and a sprig of parsley.
  

• Using a potato peeler, pare strips of peel from the cucumbers and eggplant to give a striped effect. Cut the vegetables into strips about
  inch wide and 3 to 4 inches long. Place them in a colander and sprinkle with salt, allow to rest for 25 minutes, then rinse under cold water. Drain well.
  
• Thinly slice the onion from top to base, discarding the center. Separate the strips.
  
• Mix all the vegetables together and season with salt and pepper.
  
• Make the batter immediately before frying. Mix the egg and ice water in a bowl, then sift in the flour. Mix briefly with a fork; the batter should be a little lumpy.
  
• Dip the vegetables in batter, place them one at a time in hot oil, and fry at 350°F for about 3 minutes until golden.
  
• Serve with salt, slices of lemon, and soy sauce.
  

• Preheat the grill to high.
  
• Mix the oil, herbs, fennel, crushed peppercorns, and 1 tsp sea salt in a bowl, add the turbot and turn so they are well coated.
  
• Place on an oiled baking tray skin side down and grill for about 7 to 8 minutes.
  
• Serve with half a lemon and watercress.
  

• Coat the fish with flour and lightly pat.
  
• Place ½ the butter and 2 spoons of the oil in a large frying pan on medium heat.
  
• Shake flour from the fish and fry gently for 3 minutes each side until lightly golden.