Did Dodi Al Fayed propose to Princess Diana as shown in Netflix's The Crown and were they engaged?

The first part of the final series of Netflix's royal drama The Crown have dropped on the streaming service. Part one, which consists of four episodes, focuses on the relationship between Princess Diana and Dodi Al-Fayed in the summer of 1997 - and their eventual tragic death in a car crash in Paris.

Episode three of the series shows Dodi buying a 'tell me yes' engagement ring for Diana in Paris before he eventually proposes to her in a hotel room just hours before their death. The Princess turns down his proposal saying she wasn’t ready for another marriage and knew how painful it could be if it wasn’t for the right reasons.

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The Crown has previously been criticised for its use of 'artistic license' in the series so just how much of this storyline is true? And did Dodi really propose to Princess Diana before they died and were the couple even engaged?

In 2004 the inquiry Operation Paget was set up to investigate conspiracy theories about the death of Diana. One of the chapters of the report looked at the relationship between Diana and Dodi and whether the couple was engaged or planning on announcing an engagement.

It concluded that while Dodi may have intended to propose to Princess Diana on the weekend of August 30/31, 1997, the Princess of Wales was not intending to get engaged or married to him.

The inquiry found that the only evidence of any announcement of engagement had come from Dodi's dad Mohamed Al Fayed and, to an extent, his legal advisor Stuart Benson.

A number of