Flame of Liberty

In 1989, the city of Paris received the Flame of Liberty, a gift symbolizing Franco-American friendship, funded by donors contributing around $400,000. This gesture marked the centenary of the International Herald Tribune, an English-language daily in Paris. It also acknowledged the restoration of the Statue of Liberty, undertaken by two French firms, Métalliers Champenois and Gohard Studios. Initially, Jacques Graindorge, head of French craft unions, proposed installing the Flame at Place des États-Unis in the 16th arrondissement. However, Paris's then-mayor Jacques Chirac disagreed. After negotiations, it was installed near l'Avenue de New-York and Place de l'Alma, inaugurated by Chirac on May 10, 1989.

A plaque at the base details its significance as a Statue of Liberty's flame replica, celebrating the newspaper's 100th anniversary and Franco-American friendship. Post-1997, it turned into an impromptu memorial for Diana, Princess of Wales, attracting tourists and admirers. Anthropologist Guy Lesoeurs noted its mistaken association with Diana. In 2019, the site was officially named Place Diana.

Somewhat forgotten, the Flame of Liberty experienced a resurgence of interest when Diana Spencer died on August 31, 1997, in a road accident in the tunnel under the Alma Bridge, located beneath the monument. The morning her death was announced, the monument was covered with flowers by anonymous individuals. Since then, admirers and tourists have come to pay their respects, lay wreaths, display messages, photographs of Diana, or magazine pages about the accident, write graffiti on the nearby railing, or take souvenir photos, diverting the flame from its original purpose and spontaneously transforming it into an altar in memory of Diana.

This flame-shaped monument has thus become a sort of "sculpted illustration" of Elton John's commemorative song for Diana, titled "Candle in the Wind". Since then, some visitors seem to believe that the flame is a monument expressly built in memory of the princess, probably because of the song. The monument is now presented on the Paris Tourist Office website as the "commemorative stele to Princess Diana".

The monument is still visited, and messages are still left in her memory. However, they are regularly removed, and the sculpture is cleaned.

The official monument commemorating the princess's death is actually the Clos des Blancs-Manteaux: a public garden in the Marais district, located at 21 Rue des Blancs-Manteaux, intended for teaching gardening and ecological practices to children. An isolated initiative also aims to erect a bronze monument specifically dedicated to Diana at Place de l'Alma, funded by private subscription.

Some conspiracy theorists see a link between the torch, which they believe is a hidden symbol of the Illuminati's intentions for the world, and Diana's death, which they think was an assassination organized by the same Illuminati.