Trevor Rees-Jones was the only person to walk away from the Paris car crash that killed Princess Diana in 1997, and searches for his name spike every year around the anniversary of that night. This article lays out verified facts about who he is, what happened to him, and where his life stands now, without repeating any of the rumors that have followed him for almost thirty years.
Background
Trevor Rees-Jones was a bodyguard working for Mohamed Al-Fayed’s family when he was assigned to protect Al-Fayed’s son, Dodi Fayed, during the summer of 1997. On the night of August 31, 1997, he was riding in the front passenger seat of a Mercedes carrying Dodi Fayed and Diana, Princess of Wales, when the car crashed in the Pont de l’Alma tunnel in Paris. Diana, Dodi Fayed, and driver Henri Paul all died. Rees-Jones was the sole survivor, and his name has been tied to one of the most talked-about events of the late twentieth century ever since.
People keep searching for him because his story never fully closed. He suffered a serious head injury that wiped out his memory of the crash itself, which fueled decades of speculation about what really happened in that tunnel. He also testified at the official 2008 inquest into Diana’s death, which put his name back in headlines, and dramatizations like Netflix’s The Crown have introduced him to a newer audience that wasn’t alive in 1997.
Latest Update
As of August 31, 2026, here is what is currently known.
📅 Anniversary date: Today marks 29 years since the crash that killed Princess Diana, Dodi Fayed, and Henri Paul on August 31, 1997. This is the main reason search interest in Trevor Rees-Jones rises every year around this date.
No new confirmed development involving Trevor Rees-Jones has been verified as of this date. He has kept a low public profile for years, rarely gives interviews, and there is no credible, sourced report of a new statement, health issue, or public appearance from him around this anniversary. Any claims suggesting otherwise circulating online should be treated as unconfirmed unless a named, credible outlet reports them directly.
Full Profile
Family and Early Life
Trevor Rees-Jones was born Trevor Rees-Jones on March 3, 1968, in Rinteln, West Germany, where his father was stationed with the British Army. He is the middle of three brothers, with an older brother named Gareth and a younger brother named John. When he was ten, his family moved back to Oswestry, Shropshire, close to his father’s own childhood home, and that is where he grew up.
Career Path
Rees-Jones attended Fitzalan High School in Oswestry, where he joined the Combined Cadet Force. In 1987, he enlisted in the 1st Battalion of the Parachute Regiment, completed a tour of duty in Northern Ireland, and received the General Service Medal for that service. After leaving the military, he moved into private security work and eventually became a bodyguard for the Al-Fayed family, which is the job he held on the night of the 1997 crash.
After the crash, he resigned from his position with Al-Fayed’s security team in May 1998. He later worked briefly in a sportswear shop in Oswestry before rebuilding a career in corporate and international security. Reports over the years have placed him as a district security officer with the United Nations, a security director for the oil company Halliburton, and, more recently, in a senior global security role at the pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca. He now generally goes by the name Trevor Rees rather than Rees-Jones.
In 2000, he published a book called “The Bodyguard’s Story: Diana, the Crash, and the Sole Survivor,” written with the help of ghostwriter Moira Johnston. He wrote it partly to put his own account on record after Al-Fayed’s father publicly suggested he had failed in his duties that night. In 2008, he gave testimony at the formal inquest into Princess Diana’s death, which ultimately concluded that the crash was caused by the dangerous driving of the car and the vehicles following it, not by any failure on his part.
Age
Trevor Rees-Jones was born on March 3, 1968, which makes him 58 years old as of this article’s publication in 2026.
Religion
His religious affiliation, if any, is not documented in any verifiable public source, so it is left unstated here rather than guessed.
Spouse/Partner
Rees-Jones married his first wife, Sue Jones, on August 12, 1995, in Oswestry, where the two had met at school. He filed for divorce in June 1997, shortly before the Paris crash. He remarried on February 15, 2003, to Ann Scott, a teacher at Belvidere School in Shrewsbury, in a ceremony held in Welshpool, Wales. Public reports have described him as living with his wife and children in Shropshire in recent years.
Net Worth
There is no verified, sourced figure for his current net worth available publicly. Reports have noted he earned a reported £1 million from his 2000 book deal, most of which reportedly went toward legal fees, but no confirmed total net worth figure exists, so any specific number online should be treated as unconfirmed.
Parents
His father, Colin Rees, was a surgeon serving in the British Army, and his mother, Gill, was a nurse. Their military posting in West Germany is why Trevor was born in Rinteln rather than in the United Kingdom.
Height
No verified height figure for Trevor Rees-Jones exists in any credible public record, so this detail is listed as unconfirmed rather than estimated.
Education
He was educated at Fitzalan High School in Oswestry, where he took part in the Combined Cadet Force before enlisting in the British Army’s Parachute Regiment in 1987.
Hometown/State of Origin
Although he was born in Rinteln, West Germany, Trevor Rees-Jones grew up from age ten in Oswestry, Shropshire, near the border between England and Wales, and that town is widely considered his hometown.
Official Reference Link
Trevor Rees-Jones has never maintained a public personal social media account, and no verified official profile exists for him. For accurate background, the Wikipedia entry on Trevor Rees-Jones is the most consistently updated public reference.
🔎 Quick fact check: Early reports claimed Rees-Jones survived because he was wearing a seatbelt. Official investigations later confirmed that none of the four people in the car were wearing seatbelts that night, so that detail is a myth, not a fact.
Key Facts Timeline
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| March 3, 1968 | Born in Rinteln, West Germany |
| 1978 | Moves with family to Oswestry, Shropshire |
| 1987 | Enlists in the 1st Battalion, Parachute Regiment |
| August 12, 1995 | Marries first wife, Sue Jones |
| June 1997 | Files for divorce from Sue Jones |
| August 31, 1997 | Sole survivor of the Paris car crash that killed Princess Diana, Dodi Fayed and Henri Paul |
| May 1998 | Resigns from his bodyguard role with the Al-Fayed security team |
| 2000 | Publishes “The Bodyguard’s Story: Diana, the Crash, and the Sole Survivor” |
| February 15, 2003 | Marries second wife, Ann Scott |
| 2008 | Testifies at the official inquest into Princess Diana’s death |
Reader Questions (FAQ)
Is Trevor Rees-Jones still alive?
Yes. As of this article’s publication in 2026, Trevor Rees-Jones is alive and living privately in the United Kingdom. There is no credible report of any change to that status.
What happened to Trevor Rees-Jones after the Diana crash?
He spent ten days in a coma and underwent extensive facial reconstruction surgery after breaking every bone in his face. He later resigned from his bodyguard job, published a memoir in 2000, and rebuilt a career in corporate and international security.
Why does Trevor Rees-Jones not remember the crash?
He suffered a serious head injury during the collision that caused significant memory loss. He has said he only remembers getting into the car and has no clear memory of the crash itself.
Was Trevor Rees-Jones wearing a seatbelt during the crash?
No. Early reports claimed he survived because he had his seatbelt on, but official investigations later confirmed that none of the four occupants of the car were wearing seatbelts that night.
What job does Trevor Rees-Jones have now?
Public reports in recent years have described him working in senior corporate security roles, including as a security director for Halliburton and later in global security for the pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca. He now typically goes by the name Trevor Rees.
Did Trevor Rees-Jones write a book about the crash?
Yes. In 2000, he published “The Bodyguard’s Story: Diana, the Crash, and the Sole Survivor,” which he wrote with ghostwriter Moira Johnston to give his own account of the events surrounding the crash.
Is Trevor Rees-Jones married?
Yes. He remarried in February 2003 to Ann Scott, a teacher from Shrewsbury, after his first marriage to Sue Jones ended in divorce in 1997, shortly before the crash.
Wrap-Up
Trevor Rees-Jones ended up at the center of one of the most scrutinized nights in modern history simply by doing his job, and the aftermath cost him his memory of the event, his original career, and years of unwanted public attention. What stands out looking back is how deliberately he stepped away from the spotlight once he had the chance, choosing a quiet corporate security career over the kind of ongoing media presence many people in his position might have pursued.
His story keeps resurfacing every August not because anything new tends to happen, but because the crash itself remains one of the events people return to and try to understand. Depictions of him in shows like The Crown have introduced his role in the story to viewers who never lived through 1997, which keeps his name in circulation even though he has spent most of the last three decades avoiding public life.
⚠️ Details about his exact net worth, religion, and physical height are not documented in any verifiable public source. This article intentionally leaves those blank rather than presenting guesses as fact. If official figures are published later, this page should be updated to reflect them.
About David Thomson
Hi, I’m David Thomson, founder of FocusBio. I created FocusBio to provide clear, reliable, and easy-to-read biographies of public figures, musicians, politicians, and actors.
My goal is to keep profiles accurate, updated, and based on credible sources while avoiding unnecessary filler and unverified claims.
— David Thomson, Founder of FocusBio