[13] By the second cruise, however, Rees-Jones was becoming alarmed and angry at the lack of response to his appeals to the Fayed ops moms in London for back-up. He had already complained about Dodi's unpredictable behaviour and found himself working 18 hours a day. When he accompanied the couple to Paris on August 31, he was ready to resign over the gaps in security.

[14] That night he was kept in the dark when the couple booked into a restaurant. He nearly confronted them but refrained when the booking was cancelled and they went to the Ritz, Fayed's hotel. By Rees-Jones's account, after dinner Dodi announced his plan of subterfuge to avoid the paparazzi: Henri Paul would drive the couple to his apartment. They would leave alone by the back door without a bodyguard while Rees-Jones stationed himself as a decoy at the front.

[15] Rees-Jones was told the stratagem had been approved by Fayed in London--a claim the Harrods owner denies. Rees-Jones put his foot down, telling Dodi: "I'm f……coming with you." He was behind the princess as the couple strode towards a waiting Mercedes.

[16] At this point, the sprockets of his memory claw at a blank reel. Postcrash amnesia has robbed him of the vital three or four minutes that preceded the crash in the Pont d'Alma tunnel and its aftermath, when he lay suspended between life and death. The car's speed, other vehicles, the impact and the princess's dying plight have all been erased.

[17] Among the "what ifs" is whether he could have dissuaded Dodi from embarking on the lunatic ride with a driver who was drunk and on pills. Rees-Jones believes Dodi would have countered his ultimatum by going alone with Diana. The bottom line was that Dodi paid his wages.[18] When his parents brought him back to England, believing he was to be admitted to hospital for observation, he found himself being whisked to Fayed's headquarters and interrogated by a panel of doctors. Due to his own perseverance, within six months he was back at Harrods. Fayed was solicitous, seeing him three or four times a week. "He'd get very emotional and end up crying half the time, and give you his theories on everything: it's not a crash, it's M16, it's this, it's that."

但到第二次出航时，里斯-琼斯开始十分担心和生气，因为他向驻伦敦的保卫法耶德行动指挥中心请求支援，但没有得到反应。他已经抱怨多迪难以预测的行为，而且发现自己得每人工作18个小时。8月31日他陪着多迪和戴安娜去巴黎时，他已由于缺乏安全保障准备辞去保镖的职务。是夜，这对恋人预订了要去一家酒馆，并没有让他知道。

当他们取消预订改去法耶德的里兹饭店时，他几乎要同他们摊牌，但还是忍住了。按照里斯-琼斯的叙述，饭后多迪宣布了他的伪装计划以便避开摄影记者。计划是：亨利·保尔将开车送他俩去他的公寓。他们将从后门溜走，不带保镖，而里斯-琼斯则呆在前门作诱饵。他们对里斯-琼斯说，在伦敦时这个计划已经得到老法耶德的同意（老法耶德现在对此予以否认）。里斯-琼斯坚决反对，对多迪说：“我他妈的跟定你了。”

当这对恋人朝一辆等候着的奔驰车大步走去时，他跟在戴妃的后面。在这时，里斯-琼斯记忆的齿轮空转了。撞车造成的健忘症已抹掉了关于阿尔玛桥隧道里撞车前至关紧要的三四分钟以及事后情况的记忆．那时他正悬命于生死之间。车子的速度、其他机动车、撞击和戴妃垂死的惨景，统统被抹去了。在众多假设中，一个问题是，他当初能再劝阻多迪不要坐那辆疯狂的汽车，由一名酒醉、吸毒的司机开车。里斯-琼斯相信多迪会不顾他的最后通牒而与戴安娜单独离开。

说到底，他的工资是由多迪付给的。当父母将里斯-琼斯接回英格兰时，以为他会被送进医院接受观察，他却发现自己被立刻带到法耶德的总部，受到一帮医生的盘问。由于他自己的坚持，六个月后他便回到哈罗兹上班了。法耶德很关心他，每周要见他三四次。“法耶德变得很容易激动，后来有一半时间在哭，并告诉你他对每件事作出的推测：这不是撞车，是MI6（英国秘密情报局，二战时的策情六处）干的，是这样，是那样。”