Nearly three decades after Princess Diana’s death, one detail from that tragic night in Paris continues to raise a painful question: could she have survived?

Diana was traveling in a Mercedes through the Pont de l’Alma tunnel on August 31, 1997, when the vehicle crashed into a pillar. She was taken to a hospital alive but later died from her injuries.

A new report revisiting the crash highlights something investigators and safety experts have discussed for years: Diana was not wearing a seat belt. Investigative journalist Jakson Buhaj argues that wearing one could have dramatically changed the outcome.

This isn’t merely a recent theory. The British inquest into Diana and Dodi Fayed’s deaths concluded that the lack of seat belts caused or contributed to their deaths, while earlier safety experts also said restraints might have made the crash survivable.

It’s impossible to rewrite history. But almost 29 years later, the possibility that something as ordinary as fastening a seat belt might have changed what happened makes Diana’s final night even more haunting.