A French woman got one of Princess Diana's kidneys in a transplant-Unproven!

A French Woman Has One of Princess Diana's Kidneys-Unproven!

Summary of the eRumor
The story is that a French woman claims to have been given Princess Diana's kidney in a transplant.

The Truth
It is apparently true that Francoise Gaellar did receive a transplanted kidney on September 2, 1997, two days after Princess Diana died as the result of an automobile accident in Paris.
None of the authorities will confirm that any organs were taken from Diana's body and they have tried to downplay the woman's claims.
But she says she's got a "belief" that the kidney she received is from Princess Diana and it's become a matter of belief among the citizens of the small village where she lives as to whether it's true.
She compiles several pieces of evidence.
She says that her doctor told her she would need a kidney from a donor roughly her size and age.
Diana was 36 and 5' 10" when she died.
Gaellar 38 and 5' 8".
She says that she was hospitalized and gravely ill when on the morning of 9/2/04 she was taken by ambulance to a hospital where the transplant was to take place and that the ambulance driver joked with her that she was going to be getting a kidney from Princess Di and that she would have "royal blood."
Then the hospital staff hinted that she was getting Diana's kidney and told her to keep it secret.
She claims that ever since the transplant she's found herself with a propensity to speak English more frequently than before.
An article in the London Daily Mail quotes experts who say such events have been reported in the past.
The article cites the case of an 18-year-old girl who had a heart transplant from an 18-year-old musician and poet and the girl suddenly developed a passion for music and poetry.
It is claimed that when she met the boy's parents, she could finish phrases of some of the lyrics.
French law prohibits any information about transplant donors from being revealed to the transplant recipients.

Last updated 5/23/05

A real example of the eRumor as it has appeared on the Internet:

French School Worker Has one of Princess Diana's Kidneys

     There is a French woman who claims that her kidney transplant was thanks to Princess Diana of Wales. She received her kidney in France around the time that Princess Diana was killed in a car crash along with her boyfriend in Paris. She's convinced of it and has convinced a lot of her friends and coworkers of it, but the authorities and Princess Diana's families all say it's not true.
     She said there was more than one person who told her that she was getting a special kidney but that she had to keep it a secret.
     No matter what the authorities say, she said she knows that Princess Diana's death saved her life.