It’s hard to believe it’s been 25 years since Princess Diana’s shocking death in a car crash in Paris and what makes her passing all the more tragic is that pathologist Dr Richard Shepherd who worked on the inquest believes it could have been preventable if she’d worn a seatbelt.

His work on the famous case features in his upcoming theatre tour, Unnatural Causes, which is coming to Sussex in autumn, as well as his experiences on another high profile case, in New York in the aftermath of 911. If you’re anything like Muddy, and are fascinated by true crime, you’ll want to hear Richard – who is a regular on TV and has a best-selling book – share his experiences, where the audience act as a jury on an inquest case and he also performs an autopsy on stage. Yes, really!

But for now, a faint-hearted Muddy was happy to bypass the gore and find out more about the tour which he promises is “not all death and destruction, there are jokes too!”

What impact did working on the Princess Diana inquiry have on you?

Days after her death the conspiracy theories were getting worse I was asked to be the expert forensic pathologist in that inquiry. I knew I could’t let any emotion creep in, I’ve trained myself that way. I of course had empathy for William and Harry – my mother died when I was nine, but I had to put it to one side and focus on the facts. It did come back and bite me, I had PTSD and acute anxiety later on after all the years of quietly suppressing these emotions. But after a period of time having psychotherapy and taking anti depressants, I got back on track.

What makes her death so tragic?

She’d gone through a lot in her marriage to Prince Charles and was on the cusp on another life. I’ve seen lots of traffic accidents where young men end up killing themselves and other people while on drink or drugs, but Diana’s accident felt tangibly sad, as a pathologist I think it was such a terrible and tragic end to a life. If she’d have only put her seatbelt on she’d have walked out of that crash – I’ve no doubt at all she would have survived. It was preventable.

What do you say to the Diana conspiracy theorists?

There’s always a small group of people that no matter what you tell them and prove it they just won’t accept the truth. It’s something I’ve come to accept and people who are grieving go through a period of disbelief and denial. Social media is not good at ensuring people have the full and balanced truth. I just come to accept there will be conspiracy theorists.

What can people expect from your upcoming tour?

I’m back for another year, and it’s nothing too heavy – it’s not a lecture, although I do impart information while en route to sharing how I got into this strange profession. There’s some talk on cutting up dead bodies, and then I’ll talk about a particular case using audio visual technology and where I wheel a body onto the stage – this always causes a gasp from the audience!

I talk about interesting and unusual cases I worked on such as Diana and 911 and then we use my evidence to ‘go to court’ the theatre becomes a court room and the audience become the jury, deciding on the outcome while I give evidence. What fascinates me is 500 people will all hear the same evidence but come to a different conclusion.

Why do you think humans have a fascination with death?

With or without a religious belief, you feel you’re on a journey and death is the one thing we don’t know about. We talk less about death and there’s a shift in the lexicology we call it passing now. And I’m not sure that’s a good thing. Bodies are no longer brought back to the family house for relatives to see – instead it’s hidden away and kept secret. Sometimes it makes it harder for people to deal with grief. When I explain to relatives how their loved one died, on the level they want to know, having a solid foundation to how they died can help as it’s a foundation to grieve from.

What are your favourite parts of Sussex?

I’ve been to Lewes Crown Court a lot for work, it’s a lovely building, a proper court room with wood panelled polished brass. But Lewes is a bit hilly for me – need to flatten it out (laughs). Shoreham airfield has a special place in my heart as it’s the first place I flew on my own while learning to fly. Arundel is also up there, with its lovely architecture. It’s an amazing place.

Dr Richard Shepherds Unnatural Causes Theatre Tour comes to Eastbourne Congress Theatre on 1 November and The Hawth, Crawley on 4 November. drrichardshepherd.com

Princess Diana pathologist: ‘If she’d worn her seatbelt, she’d have survived’

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