He took the kissing photo of Diana and Dodi: This is the famous photographer Mario Brenna

He took the kissing photo of Diana and Dodi
This is the famous photographer Mario Brenna

In the Netflix series “The Crown” he is celebrated as a master of his craft – and the photographer Mario Brenna has actually become famous as a paparazzo. The reason: It was his legendary kiss photo that brought the relationship between Princess Diana (1961-1997) and Dodi Al-Fayed (1955-1997) to the public. “The Crown” devotes almost an entire episode to the creation of Brenna’s love snapshots. The photographer is played by Enzo Cilenti (49).

The series tells that Brenna took the photos “on order” from Dodi’s father Mohamed Al-Fayed (1929-2023). However, there is no evidence of this. Brenna herself told the New York Times last week, that the idea that the billionaire businessman hired him to do this was “absurd and completely made up.” But one thing is certain: Brenna actually took the pictures and he is said to have earned millions from them.

Mario Brenna shot the famous pictures of Princess Diana with her new boyfriend Dodi Al-Fayed in the summer of 1997 while the couple were vacationing on Dodi’s father’s yacht. The photos, which were published in the Sunday Mirror on August 10, 1997, showed, among other things, Diana and Dodi kissing.

How did Mario Brenna really get his famous snapshots?

According to media reports, Brenna, who is from Italy, lived in Monaco in 1997, where he earned his living as a fashion and social photographer. The then 40-year-old is said to have worked, among other things, as an official photographer for fashion houses such as Versace.

Brenna is said to have found the Al-Fayeds’ yacht by chance. He was apparently in Sardinia every summer to photograph celebrities and supposedly thought Diana was an acquaintance of his from afar before he realized the opportunity he had. But there were also rumors at the time that Diana herself had informed Brenna… The fact is: the infamous pictures were taken off the coast of Sardinia at the beginning of August 1997. The photographer then boarded a plane to London to negotiate their sale.

Brenna is said to have received £250,000 from the Sunday Mirror after a bidding war. He reportedly sold additional photos to other British newspapers for £100,000 each and also distributed his snapshots internationally for a good price. Over the course of the following months, he is estimated to have earned the equivalent of around two million euros.

Tears after Princess Diana’s death

Shortly after the photos were published, on August 31, 1997, Diana and Dodi tragically died in a car accident in Paris while being chased by paparazzi. When he found out about her death, Brenna is said to have cried. The idea that his photos “might have helped fuel the hunt for Diana and Dodi obviously makes me sad,” he told the New York Times. But he added: “If it hadn’t been me, someone else would certainly have taken these pictures.”

Brenna herself has largely disappeared from the spotlight since the famous kiss photos. He is now said to live near Lake Como in Italy and continues to photograph celebrities such as George Clooney (62), Miley Cyrus (30) and Beyoncé (42). In “The Crown” the character of Mario Brenna explains that paparazzi should be like “hunters” and “killers”. The real Brenna sees it differently: “I don’t identify with the term ‘killer,'” he told the New York Times. He also revealed that no one from The Crown has contacted him to talk about his experiences.

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