Noble paparazzo
From Michel Dion Sir: Princess Diana's death has given rise to a lot of speculation and will continue to do so. Stephen Glover's reckoning (Media studies, 25 October) is wrong at least on one point. I knew well James Andanson, who photographed me many times in both Ireland and Paris whenever I published a book or had a play on. Despite his English name, he was French and spoke no English at all. He did once own a Fiat Uno but sold it two years before the tragic accident in the Alma tunnel, and usually drove the BMW in which he committed suicide, by setting it on fire, two years after the Princess's death. At the time of the accident he was in the south of France, reporting for his agency. Any idea that he may have been involved in the drama is wrong. He was one of the straightest men I ever met in the disreputable profession of paparazzi, and, for that reason, was accepted in the most difficult circles.
As for the Princess's premonition of death, although it cannot be explained rationally, there are many such cases. One of the best-known is Stendhal's vision: 'It is not shameful to die in the street' Two years after that, in 1842, he died on the pavement in rue Neuve des Capucines in Paris.
Michel Deon
Tynagh, Co. Galway, Ireland
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