It is a testimony that all journalists fought for. On August 31, 1997, the car crash that killed Princess Diana, along with her friend Dodi Al-Fayed and driver Henri Paul, left only one survivor: bodyguard Trevor Rees -Jones. He is seriously injured, the shock has left him with amnesia, he does not wish to speak. His lawyer, Me Christian Curtil, turns away all journalists. Among them, the essential Michèle Marchand, entered the editorial staff of the weekly people here is in 1995.
No picture, no sound …
Oddly enough, ten months later, “Mimi” swears to have a green light to interview the miracle. For this worldwide exclusivity, it takes on board the young photographer Jean-Michel Psaïla. In charge of “report proof by image“of the meeting, he”hideout“on leaving Me Curtil’s apartment for two hours … in vain, he tells” Further investigation “. No image, therefore, and no sound either: Mimi Marchand claims to have lost Recordings…
“Everything was wrong”
And yet, on July 6, 1998, here is publishes the exclusive interview with Trevor Rees-Jones. Three pages of interview, confidences of the bodyguard and precise answers, in particular on his state of health. “It was all wrong“, says Curtil, who immediately advises his client to attack the magazine:”Not only had Trevor Rees-Jones not been to Paris for some time, but he had not given this interview, nor any interview for that matter. So it was necessarily a fictitious interview.”
Scandal at “Here”
Axel Ganz, the boss of the Prisma press group of which here is, immediately summons the manager. “She kept lying“, he tells” Further investigation “. He kicks her out immediately, and promises to ban in the future any collaboration with her. Forced to recognize the bogus, the magazine filed a complaint against Michèle Marchand for forgery and use of forgery. But the justice granted her a dismissal, and even today, she maintains that she carried out this interview …
Extract from “From ‘Here’ to the Elysee: Mimi Marchand, the influential of the Republic”, a portrait to see in “Complément d’études” on January 13, 2022.
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