Everything
Royal
Inquest into the death of Diana,
Princess of Wales, August 31, 1997
Diana's letter's to Dodi Fayed
It must be noted that 99%
of Diana's letters to "anyone" were "Darling"
or Dearest" and signed "Fondest Love." ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Diana and Dodi unlawfully
killed
ITN The jury at the Princess Diana
inquest has ruled that she and her lover Dodi Al Fayed were unlawfully
killed by grossly negligent driving.
The six women and five men singled out Henri Paul's drink-driving
and the pursuing paparazzi as a contributory factor to the fatal
crash in the Alma Tunnel on August 31, 2007 in Paris. The panel
also said the fact the couple were not wearing seatbelts contributed
to their deaths.
The jury had previously heard
evidence that Mr Paul, who also died in the accident, was going
at twice the speed limit for the road when he crashed. But the
Mercedes was also pursued by photographers when it left the Paris
Ritz hotel minutes earlier. The jury concluded that the photographers
were recklessly "racing" the Mercedes and drove so close
that Mr Paul had no freedom to move.
Lord Justice Scott Baker earlier
said he would accept a majority verdict after receiving a note
from the six women and five men indicating that they could not
reach a unanimous verdict. Dodi's father, Mohamed Al Fayed, accused
MI6 and the Duke of Edinburgh of plotting to murder the couple.
The coroner ruled there was
no evidence to back up the claims and disallowed any verdict which
could point to a murder plot. There was laughter in court as the
Lord Justice Scott Baker rose to leave, before turning around
to tell the jury they would be excused jury service for the rest
of their lives.
He thanked them for their
"considerable devotion" to duty over the past six months,
saying it was "almost astonishing" they had been present
every day without any absences. Mr Al Fayed emerged from the consultation
room at the High Court flanked by bodyguards. Asked for his personal
response to the verdict, he shrugged his shoulders and said: "The
most important thing is it is murder."
The Harrods tycoon later said
in a statement the investigations into the crash carried out by
Scotland Yard and by the French police were wrong, as they missed
the "unidentified" vehicles that the jury noted were
following Diana's car. He added: "It has been a long fight
to uncover the truth about the deaths of my son Dodi and Diana,
Princess of Wales. I am not the only person who says they were
murdered."
Paul Stephens, Deputy Commissioner
of the Met Police, said: "I think we now have to soberly
reflect upon a clear verdict, and wish and hope that this now
brings some sort of closure to the subject."
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Coroner Rules Diana
Unlawfully Killed
2008-04-07
Filed Under: World News
LONDON (April 7) - A coroner's jury has ruled that Princess Diana
and boyfriend Dodi Fayed were unlawfully killed through the reckless
actions of their driver and the paparazzi in 1997.
On Diana's Death1 of 9
A British inquest into the death of Princess Diana and her boyfriend,
Dodi Al Fayed, finds the two were unlawfully killed by the reckless
behavior of their driver and the paparazzi on Aug. 31, 1997. It
was the most serious option available to the coroner's jury.
The jury had been told that
a verdict of unlawful killing would mean that they believed the
reckless behavior of their driver and paparazzi amounted to manslaughter.
It was the most serious verdict available to them Monday. The
couple died when their speeding car slammed into a concrete pillar
while it was being chased by photographers in cars and on motorbikes.
The jury added that the fact that Diana and Dodi were not wearing
seatbelts was a contributing factor.
The coroner, Lord Justice
Scott Baker, had instructed the jury that there was no evidence
to support claims by Fayed's father, Mohamed Al Fayed, that the
couple were victims of a murder plot directed by Prince Philip
and carried out by British secret agents. The jury was not at
liberty to disagree. The six women and five men on the jury began
deliberating April 2 after hearing six months of testimony from
more than 240 witness. They also went to Paris to see the scene
of the Aug. 31, 1997 crash.
The cost of the inquest itself,
including lawyers and staff assisting the coroner, has passed
3 million pounds (US$6 million euro3.8 million). This doesn't
count the cost of lawyers representing the Metropolitan Police
and the Secret Intelligence Service, nor the millions believed
to have been spent by the Metropolitan Police on their two-year
investigation which produced a report of 813 pages published in
December 2006, which concluded that there was nothing to substantiate
Al Fayed's claims. Nor does it include Al Fayed's expenditure
for lawyers, investigators and other costs.
Baker had expressed hope that
the inquest would lay to rest, once and for all, any false theories
about the princess' death. Dodi Fayed died instantly when the
couple's Mercedes, moving in excess of 60 mph (95 kph) slammed
into a concrete pillar in the Alma underpass in Paris at 12:22
a.m.; medics initially thought Diana would survive her severe
injuries, but she died at the Pitie-Salpetriere Hospital around
4 a.m.
Beliefs about the accident,
expressed in the hours and days that followed, have persisted.
The paparazzi who pursued the couple were vilified. As grieving
Britons piled up flowers outside Diana's Kensington Palace home,
some British newspapers declared they would never use another
paparazzi shot — a vow that proved time-limited. French police
announced, a day after the crash, that tests on Henri Paul's blood
showed he was three times over the national drink-driving standard.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Diana conspiracy
theories rejected
ITN -The combined manslaughter verdict
in the Princess Diana inquest represents an emphatic rejection
of conspiracy theories promoted by Mohamed Al Fayed.
After sitting through evidence
from 278 witnesses from across the world, the jury of six women
and five men took four days to reach the majority decisions. Mr
Al Fayed has long believed that the Duke of Edinburgh and MI6
murdered the couple through a staged crash but even his own legal
team abandoned that position.
The "cast list"
included the Royal Family, a prime minister, politicians, diplomats
and international spies, right down to a man in a battered Fiat
Uno. Among the theories were that driver Henri Paul was in the
pay of the security services and claims that the MI6 were involved
were fuelled by the evidence of renegade spy Richard Tomlinson.
He cited an early 1990s memo
about a plan to kill a Balkan leader - in a method he initially
said bore an "eerie similarity" to the Paris crash -
as evidence that MI6 did practise assassination. But Lord Justice
Scott Baker said Fayed's conspiracy theory was "without substance".
But he did leave the jurors the option of an open verdict, something
which might have been taken as an indication they believed there
was some merit to the conspiracy claims.
The verdicts raise questions
over the conclusions of earlier proceedings in France in which
the paparazzi were cleared of any wrongdoing. Other than motorcyclist
Stephane Darmon, all of the paparazzi and their drivers who were
present that night refused to give evidence to the High Court
inquest. As they remained in France, the coroner had no power
to compel them to testify even by video link and the French government
actively refused to force them.
In the end, the coroner had
a series of statements which were taken from the paparazzi during
the earlier French investigation read to the jury. But he issued
a warning that their evidence had not been tested in court.
The jury saw receipts from
the Ritz Hotel showing that Mr Paul ordered two double shots of
Ricard spirit shortly before taking to the wheel. There was also
first-hand evidence that he was seen in a nearby bar earlier that
night and medical evidence that he was on Prozac and had a drink
problem unknown to friends and family. The jury was not swayed
by question marks over blood samples showing that Mr Paul was
three times the French drink-drive limit when he crashed.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Jury considers verdict
in Diana inquest
By Robin Millard AFP - April 2, 2008
LONDON (AFP) - Jurors examining the death of Princess Diana retired
to consider their verdict Wednesday, after the coroner said no
evidence of an alleged assassination plot was presented during
the six-month inquest.
Lord Justice Scott Baker,
the coroner, sent out the jury of six women and five men at the
High Court in London following an inquest looking at the Paris
crash which killed Diana, her boyfriend Dodi Fayed and chauffeur
Henri Paul. Fayed's father, the Egyptian tycoon Mohamed Al Fayed,
has consistently claimed the August 31, 1997 crash was a British
establishment conspiracy to stop the princess from marrying a
Muslim.
But on Monday, Baker told
the jury there was "not a shred of evidence" to support
Al Fayed's theory. "We come to the point where you have to
retire and consider your verdicts," Baker told the jury,
six months to the day since the inquest opened on October 2 last
year.
It is unclear how long the
jury will take to come to a verdict, but it could be a number
of days. Baker told the jurors to first examine the possibility
of unlawful killing through the negligence of either Paul or the
paparazzi before considering an accidental death verdict. They
were asked to consider whether the photographers chasing the princess's
car had sacrificed the lives of the crash victims in the "pursuit
of a picture".
Some photographers took pictures
of the Mercedes occupants before the emergency services arrived.
Only one paparazzo gave live evidence to the inquest. The others
could not be compelled to attend as they live in France, but their
statements to the French authorities were heard by the jurors.
Baker told the jury: "You
may wish to consider whether the conduct of any individual after
the crash demonstrates a deliberate disregard for the lives of
the others in pursuit of a picture and if so whether that helps
you in determining what was the nature of the pursuit before the
crash." The jury can return five possible verdicts:
-- Unlawful killing through
grossly negligent driving by some or all of the pursuing paparazzi
photographers;
-- Unlawful killing through
grossly negligent driving by Paul;
-- Unlawful killing as a combination
of the driving of both the paparazzi and Paul;
-- Accidental death;
-- An open verdict.
Baker reminded the jurors
Wednesday that they could not return an unlawful killing verdict
in support of a conspiracy to murder. "The conspiracy theory
advanced by Mohamed Al Fayed has been minutely examined and shown
to be without any substance," he said. The coroner reiterated
that the burden of proof required to find unlawful killing through
negligence -- a form of manslaughter -- was higher than the "balance
of probabilities" required to conclude that the crash was
an accident.
Baker also told the jury it
must be unanimous in its verdict, and with any so-called riders
dealing with possible contributory factors, such as drink-driving
or the passengers' failure to wear seatbelts.
The inquest has heard some
250 witnesses, while the jurors also travelled to Paris to see
the scene of the accident for themselves.
Diana's former butler Paul
Burrell was among the most high-profile witnesses to take the
stand, while others whose testimony gripped the court include
Pakistani surgeon Hasnat Khan, who had a two-year romance with
the princess.
Two previous police investigations
-- one French and one British -- have concluded that the deaths
were a tragic accident fuelled by Paul who was over the drink-drive
limit speeding to get away from chasing paparazzi.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Diana Inquest: Jury Retires
By Sky News SkyNews - Wednesday,
April 2, 2008 pmThe jury at the Diana inquest has retired to consider
its verdict.
The coroner, Lord Justice Scott Baker, has spent the last two
days summing up the evidence and conclude this morning, before
sending the jury out. The six women and five men have sat through
almost six months of evidence in Court 73 at the Royal Courts
of Justice. He told them: "You have listened to a vast amount
of evidence with, if I may say so, obvious care and great commitment."
The jury heard from more than 250 witnesses in eight different
countries. The evidence they have heard has been peppered with
contradictions. It is the job of the jurors to decide on whose
word they can rely and whose should be taken "with a pinch
of salt".
It is an intimidating prospect
but the coroner told the jurors: "Of course you must consider
the details, but there comes a time when it's necessary to stand
back and see whether or not it is clear and what the overall picture
establishes." Ultimately, they need to reach a decision on
how Diana and Dodi died in the Alma tunnel in Paris more than
a decade ago. Their verdict is likely to be a defining moment
in history. There are five verdicts for the jury to consider:
:: Unlawful killing due to
the grossly negligent driving of the paparazzi pursuing the Mercedes.
:: Unlawful killing due to
the grossly negligent driving of Henri Paul in the Mercedes.
::Unlawful killing due to
the grossly negligent driving of the paparazzi and Henri Paul.
This equates to the serious crime of manslaughter and the jury
were told they must be satisfied beyond reasonable doubt.
:: Accidental death. This
could come into play if the jury concludes that the driving was
bad but not bad enough to be grossly negligent.
:: Open verdict. It can be
reached only if the jury are unanimous that there is insufficient
evidence to support any of the other verdicts. But the coroner
said they should not return an open verdict simply because they
could not agree or as a mark of disapproval.
The jurors have been handed
an "inquisition form" - an official document on which
to record their verdict. They will also be expected to add "narrative
conclusions", factors they believe contributed to the tragedy
such as excessive speed, alcohol and passengers not wearing seatbelts.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
'New Evidence' Email
Halts Diana Inquest
By Sky News SkyNews - Tuesday, April 1, 2008 Princess Diana's
inquest has resumed after it was dramatically halted because of
the discovery of potential new evidence.
The court received an email from France shortly before the inquest
was due to conclude. Coroner Lord Justice Scott Baker sent the
jury away for an early lunch so an accurate translation of the
email could be made. When the inquest resumed, the coroner said:
"Members of the jury, I'm happy to say the problem has been
resolved and there's nothing to be worried about and we can proceed."
The email referred to a sample
taken from the body of Henri Paul, who was driving the Mercedes
car carrying Diana and her lover Dodi Fayed when it crashed in
Paris.
Tests on blood and other samples
from Mr Paul, the Paris Ritz Hotel's acting head of security,
showed he was three times over the French drink-drive limit. But
Dodi's father, Mohamed al Fayed, has always believed the samples
were faked or switched, pointing to question marks over the labelling
of vials of blood. Lord Justice Baker had been summing up evidence
heard from more than 250 witnesses during the six-month inquest
when the email was received.
Earlier, the coroner criticised
Diana's former butler Paul Burrell, saying it was "blindingly
obvious" he had not told "the whole truth" while
giving evidence. Mr Burrell, 49, in a secret recording by The
Sun, was quoted as saying he was aware he had broken the law and
adding: "I've been very naughty." Lord Justice Baker
said: "You have heard him in the witness box and even without
what he said subsequently in the hotel room in New York, it was
blindingly obvious wasn't it that the evidence that he gave in
this court was not the truth, the whole truth and nothing but
the truth."
The coroner also
accused Mr Burrell of profiting from the Princess' death.
"All in all,
you may think that Mr Burrell's behaviour has been pretty shabby,"
he said.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
'New Evidence' Halts
Diana Inquest
By Sky News SkyNews - Tuesday, April
1, 2008 Princess Diana's inquest has been halted at the last minute
after an email from France containing potential new evidence was
received by the coroner.
The mail is believed to refer
to a sample from the body of Henri Paul, who was driving the Mercedes
car carrying Diana and her lover Dodi Fayed which crashed in Paris.
Tests on blood and other samples from Mr Paul, the Paris Ritz
Hotel's acting head of security, showed he was three times the
French drink-drive limit. But Dodi's father, Mohamed al Fayed,
has always believed that the samples were faked or switched, pointing
to question marks over the labelling of vials of blood.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Diana coroner slams
'liar' Burrell
ITN - Tuesday, April 1, 2008 The coroner at the Princess Diana
inquest has said it is "blindingly obvious" that her
former butler Paul Burrell lied.
On the second day of summing
up after six months of evidence, Lord Justice Scott Baker said
Mr Burrell's evidence was not the "whole truth". He
told the jury: "You have heard him in the witness box and
even without what he said subsequently in the hotel room in New
York, it was blindingly obvious wasn't it that the evidence that
he gave in this court was not the truth, the whole truth and nothing
but the truth."
Mr Burrell was filmed in a
hotel room in New York boasting that he had misled the jury when
he gave evidence in January and that he had laid "a couple
of red herrings". The 49-year-old refused to reappear at
the inquest when the coroner asked him to return and explain himself.
Mr Burrell's reputation is already in tatters after he cashed
in on Diana's death even though he once claimed he was her "rock".
He now lives in Florida and trades off his notoriety as a former
employee of the Royal household.
Members of the jury have been
told to make up their own minds about how Diana died, but have
been told to rule out murder after the coroner said that there
is "no evidence" that Diana was murdered by MI6 at the
Duke of Edinburgh's request. He said: "I have determined
that it is not open to you to find that this was unlawful killing
by the Duke of Edinburgh or anyone else in a staged accident."
He added that so many of Mohamed Al Fayed's conspiracy theories
about the August 1997 crash were "so demonstrably without
foundation" that even his lawyer was no longer pursuing them.
The five possible verdicts
the jury has been given are: Unlawful killing by grossly negligent
driving by the paparazzi; Unlawful killing through the gross negligence
of Henri Paul; Unlawful killing through grossly negligent driving
of both the paparazzi and Mr Paul; Accidental death.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Diana's butler "did
not tell the truth"
By Paul Majendie Reuters - Tuesday, April 1, 2008 LONDON (Reuters)
- Princess Diana's trusted butler Paul Burrell did not tell the
truth at the inquest into her death, the presiding judge told
the jury on Tuesday.
"All in all, you may
think Burrell's behaviour has been pretty shabby," Lord Justice
Scott Baker told the jury as he concluded the official inquiry
into the death of Diana and her lover Dodi al-Fayed in a Paris
car crash in 1997. Burrell, who called himself "Diana's Rock",
faced a three-day grilling from lawyers when he appeared at the
inquest in January to be repeatedly asked how much he really knew
about secrets he was supposed to have held for the princess. In
February, Scott Baker asked Burrell to return to court to explain
discrepancies between his evidence and comments attributed to
him in a tabloid newspaper but he refused. "It was blindingly
obvious wasn't it, that the evidence that he gave in this courtroom
was not the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth,"
Scott Baker said on Tuesday. In a scathing reference to Burrell's
emotionally charged testimony, he told the jury: "I advise
you to proceed with caution especially when and if you are left
with the impression that he only told you what he wanted you to
hear." The coroner was summing up to the jury after they
had heard more than 250 witnesses over the past six months in
an inquest that has attracted worldwide media attention. On the
opening day of his presentation to the jury, the judge on Monday
dismissed conspiracy theories of Mohamed al-Fayed, father of Dodi.
Harrods owner Fayed had claimed they were killed by British security
services on the orders of Prince Philip, because the royal family
did not want the mother of the future king having a child with
his son.
The inquest was delayed for
10 years because Britain had to wait for the French legal process
and then a British police investigation to run their course before
it could begin. Both police inquiries decided it was a tragic
accident because chauffeur Henri Paul was drunk and driving too
fast when their Mercedes limousine crashed in a Paris road tunnel
while being pursued by paparazzi.
The jury, due to be sent out
on Wednesday morning to consider their decision, have five verdicts
to choose from. They can opt for unlawful killing through gross
negligence by the chauffeur, by "following vehicles"
or by both. The other two alternatives are accidental death or
an open verdict if the 11-member jury felt there was not enough
evidence to support any substantive verdict. The judge is initially
seeking unanimity from the jury but, failing that, will accept
a majority verdict
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Diana Coroner Slams
Burrell Evidence
By Sky News SkyNews - Tuesday, April 1, 2008 A coroner overseeing
the inquest into Princess Diana's death said it was "blindingly
obvious" evidence from her former butler Paul Burrell was
not "the whole truth".
Lord Justice Scott Baker is
summing-up after hearing six months' worth of evidence from more
than 250 witnesses.
He has already dismissed allegations
that the Princess and her boyfriend Dodi Fayed - also killed in
the crash - were murdered by M16 on the orders of Prince Philip.
Mr Burrell was one of Diana's closest aides and says she called
him her "rock". But he was ordered to return to the
inquest to explain whether he lied in court while giving evidence.
A secret recording by The Sun newspaper showed him claiming that
he had not told the whole truth. The paper quoted him saying he
was aware he had broken the law and saying: "I've been very
naughty." Lord Justice Baker called for the former butler
to return to the court from his home in Florida to explain his
alleged comments. But Mr Burrell refused and because he was in
the US, the coroner could not force him to attend.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Butler 'took ring
off Diana's body'
Press Assoc. - Monday, March 17, 2008 Paul Burrell took an engagement
ring off the body of Diana, Princess of Wales and kept it, his
former has bodyguard claimed.
Michael Faux told the inquest
into Diana's death that the former royal butler also kept documents,
including papers note-headed with the Buckingham Palace crest,
and burnt them. Mr Burrell had also considered throwing some of
the property off the side of a ship in order to get rid of them,
according to Mr Faux, who worked for him for a year until 2003.
He claims he saw Mr Burrell take "one or two" bin bags
with property he had "hidden" at a neighbour's home
in Farndon, Cheshire, and "frantically" burn them in
his back garden in November or December 2002.
He told the jury in central
London that an anxious Mr Burrell was "upset and virtually
crying" when Mr Faux at first refused to sign a confidentiality
agreement. Mr Burrell stressed he "needed him" to sign.
No sooner had he agreed than Mr Burrell told him that he had an
engagement ring. Mr Faux said he was "led to believe"
it was Diana's. Under questioning from Nicholas Hilliard, for
the coroner, Mr Faux told the court: "He said that he took
it from the body in Paris." Mr Faux said that he thought
it "was not right that he had taken it off her finger",
probably in the hospital, and that he felt "disgusted"
with him.
The jury has heard that Diana
had received a gold Bulgari friendship ring from lover Dodi Fayed
which she wore on her right hand.
There was also a £11,500
Repossi ring, which some claim was an engagement ring, bought
in the weeks before the couple died. But, since the crash, this
could be placed either at Dodi's Paris flat or under the control
of his father, Harrods tycoon Mohamed al Fayed, the jury heard.
The now US-based Mr Burrell, who refuses to return to the witness
box, rejects Mr Faux's claims.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Rock
or "RAT"
Diana's butler took
ring off her body
By Paul Majendie Reuters - Monday, March 17, 2008 LONDON (Reuters)
- Princess Diana's butler Paul Burrell took an engagement ring
off her dead body, Burrell's former bodyguard told the inquest
into her death on Monday.
Michael Faux also said that
the former royal butler kept documents with a Buckingham Palace
letterhead and then burnt them in his back garden. "I was
disgusted with him," Faux told the inquest investigating
the deaths of Diana and her lover Dodi al-Fayed in a high-speed
Paris car crash in August 1997.
Faux, who worked for Burrell
for a year in 2003, said the butler told him that he had removed
the ring: "He took it off the body in Paris." Asked
in court if Burrell had any way of demonstrating this was Diana's
ring, Faux replied: "Yes, there was still blood on the ring
and he could prove it was her by the DNA." Faux said he thought
it was not right that Burrell had taken it off her finger.
The former bodyguard also
said of Burrell: "I saw him going to and from his house with
bin bags full of paperwork that he was taking into his garden
to burn and he was making sure that it was thoroughly burned."
Faux said he noticed some of the documents carried a Buckingham
Palace letterhead. In a statement to the court, Burrell has denied
ever having any conversation about a ring. Burrell has admitted
burning papers such as old bank statements but insisted he did
not destroy anything significant.
Dodi's father Mohamed, owner
of Harrods department store, alleges his son and Diana were killed
by British security forces on the orders of Prince Philip. French
and British police investigations have both concluded that Diana
and Dodi died in an accident caused by their driver who was drunk
and speeding. Both inquiries rejected al-Fayed's conspiracy theories.
Under British law, an inquest
is needed to determine the cause of death when someone dies unnaturally.
The hearing is expected to end early next month.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Paparazzi 'obstructed
Diana police'
Press Assoc. - Wednesday, March 12, 2008 Paparazzi who took photographs
of Diana, Princess of Wales, dying in a car wreck stopped police
from getting to the scene, her inquest was told.
Eyewitness Clifford Goorovadoo
said: "It is true that when the first police officers arrived
the journalists would not let them through. They were pushing."
Mr Goorovadoo, a chauffeur, was parked down the road from the
1997 Alma Tunnel crash in Paris. Alerted by the "roar of
a car engine" Mr Goorovadoo looked up and spotted a motorcycle
in hot pursuit of a Mercedes which was carrying Diana, the hearing
heard.
The pillion passenger on the
motorbike was taking photographs just before the Mercedes crashed,
according to Mr Goorovadoo. He was not certain if a flash gun
was being used. There was "a tremendous noise" moments
later and Mr Goorovadoo rushed to help the victims.
It is believed that Mr Goorovadoo
has refused to appear at the central London inquest, but the hearing
heard evidence from his police statements made at the time. Mr
Goorovadoo told police he saw photographers taking pictures of
the car. But he added: "At no stage did they come to the
aide of the injured. They just took photographs of the scene.
I think that the emergency services might have arrived sooner
if they had just called them." He also told the French detectives:
"When I was holding the head of one of the injured people
I heard the photographers arguing about the best shots. I turned
around and shouted at them that they had better things to do."
All of the paparazzi who were on the scene that night have refused
to appear at the inquest. Their police statements are being read
to the jury.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Eyewitness criticizes
Diana paparazzi
ITN - Wednesday, March 12, 2008 Snapping paparazzi stopped police
getting to the crash scene where Princess Diana lay dying, her
inquest has heard.
Clifford Goorovadoo, a witness
at the scene of the Paris crash in which Diana's lover Dodi Fayed
and driver Henri Paul also died, said: "It is true that when
the first police officers arrived the journalists would not let
them through. They were pushing."
In the lead up to the fatalities,
Mr Goorovadoo said he was alerted by the "roar of a car engine"
and saw a motorcycle in hot pursuit of a Mercedes which was carrying
Diana. He said the pillion passenger on the motorbike was taking
photographs just before the Mercedes crashed, but he was not certain
if a flash gun was being used. There was "a tremendous noise"
moments later and Mr Goorovadoo rushed to help the victims. He
was quickly identified as a key witness by the press, the inquest
heard.
It is believed that Mr Goorovadoo
has refused to appear at the central London inquest. Instead,
the hearing heard evidence from his police statements made at
the time. Tom de la Mare, for the Ritz Hotel, raised the possibility
that Mr Goorovadoo may have been "got at" by the paparazzi
to change his account so as not to paint them in such a bad light.
Mr Goorovadoo made six police statements, the first at 2.30am
on August 31, 1997, just two hours after Paris crash which killed
Diana, her lover Dodi Fayed and driver Henri Paul. His statements,
including variations on the possible distance of the motorbike
to the Mercedes, were read out to the jury. Mr de la Mare said:
"There is at least a suspicion that he has been got at.
"We know that the press
were trailing him and now his account has changed in a fundamental
way to exculpate the people on the motorbike. Maybe it is a bit
fishy?" The coroner Lord Justice Scott Baker said: "One
possible explanation is that the memory close to the time is the
better memory." Inspector Paul Carpenter, who has reviewed
all the witness statements being read into court, said: "He
(Mr Goorovadoo) was angry on August 31. He may have calmed down
and reflected by the time of his (later) statements." Mr
de la Mare added: "You might also consider asking has he
been put under any pressure to change his statement?" Mr
Carpenter replied: "You could argue that."
Mr Goorovadoo, a chauffeur
who has driven Mercedes similar to the car which crashed, said
the person at the wheel must have been a "mad man" to
have driven like that.
Mr Goorovadoo was "outraged"
and could not understand the attitude of the photographers who
argued and jostled for position without giving any help. Apart
from the two photographers he saw arrested he could not recognize
the other four who approached and started taking shots of the
car, he told police. "I was too busy helping the injured,"
Mr Goorovadoo said.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Diana photographers
'spun lies'
ITN - Tuesday, March 11, 2008 The paparazzi first on the scene
of the car crash which killed Princess Diana in Paris have been
accused of lying to protect themselves.
At the inquest into her death,
police statements taken from photographers ten years ago were
read out. Mohammed al Fayed's lawyer described their version of
events as a "concoction of lies". The jury heard that
images of the crash were being marketed internationally within
hours of the collision but were immediately pulled when the deaths
were confirmed.
Fifteen photographers were
arrested, including seven at the scene of the crash in the Alma
Tunnel in Paris in August 1997. Some of them took shots from less
than two meters away with the dead and seriously injured clearly
visible inside the mangled Mercedes, the inquest heard. They took
photographs as members of the public tried to help, when the rescue
services were on the scene and as the bodies were removed but
the photographers did not call for help, the jury heard. Asked
if he or any other photographer had tried to help, paparazzo Christian
Martinez told police: "No, nor did any other photographer
do so either. "How could we have done so, it would have been
the height of arrogance to go and render first aid to people we
had been following a few minutes earlier. "I was dumbstruck
by the relationship between myself and the people in that car."
Diana, her lover Dodi Fayed
and driver Henri Paul died while bodyguard Trevor Rees, the only
survivor, suffered near-fatal injuries. In their statements some
of the photographers said they had been told a member of the public
had called the emergency services. Others claimed they had been
told never to move a crash victim in case of doing more damage,
while others said they thought that a member of the public had
called the emergency services, the court heard.
Describing the atmosphere
that night photographer Serge Benhamou said: "The photographers
were more persistent and more aggressive than usual. The fact
that it was Diana made people more tense than usual." Photographers
had staked out the couple from the al Fayed Paris apartment to
the Ritz Hotel and from there to the final fatal journey.
The paparazzi had swarmed
around the Mercedes as it left the back of the Ritz Hotel in part
of a decoy plan to try and trick the press. The decoy Mercedes
and Range Rover left the rear of the hotel between five and six
minutes after the Mercedes which crashed. Mr Benhamou recalled
the only raised voices he heard in the underpass were from members
of the public who were criticizing the paparazzi, "but some
of them were also taking photos" he noted. He said he did
not see any photographer "giving assistance of any kind"
to the people in the crashed Mercedes.
Mr Martinez, who was traveling
with colleague Serge Arnal, plus paparazzi Romuald Rat and Stephane
Darmon appear to be among the first identified press at the crash
site.
They claim the Mercedes sped
away along the journey and they caught up with it in the tunnel.
But other photographers soon arrived, the court heard. After being
shown some of his images, Mr Martinez told police: "It is
blatantly obvious that I was try to take photographs of Diana
in those pictures. I think I zoomed in. "They were taken
in rapid succession. I was possibly 1.5 meters to two meters away.
I remember taking a rapid sequence of photographs when Mr Fayed's
body was removed." Mr Martinez said Mr Rat was "in a
state of shock" and telling people to only take pictures
of the car. Mr Benhamou said: "Rat was panic-stricken. He
realized that it was serious. I think he actually spoke to the
police about it." He also recalled that photographer Jacques
Langevin did not understand anything, he "seemed very shocked"
and at first did not seem to realize that Diana was involved.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Diana driver took
'too many risks'
Press Assoc. - Tuesday, March 11,
2008 Driver Henri Paul took "too many risks" while driving
Diana, Princess of Wales, on the fatal journey in which she was
killed, her inquest has heard.
Paparazzo Romuald Rat claimed
the Mercedes carrying Diana, "took off, like shot off",
once it hit the Champs Elysee in a bid to lose the chasing pack
of paparazzi. Minutes later in the early hours of 31 August 1997,
the car crashed in the Alma Tunnel in Paris, killing Diana, her
lover Dodi Fayed and Mr Paul, the head of security at the Paris
Ritz Hotel.
In a police statement Mr Rat,
who had been following Diana all day and taking shots, said: "I
did not understand why the Mercedes suddenly drove so quickly
since every had gone so well during the day and a normal chauffeur
knows that is not the way that you shake someone off. He took
too many risks."
Police statements from several
paparazzi who were on the scene that night are being read to the
jury as they refuse to appear, either by video link from Paris
or in person at the London inquest. Mr Paul had repeatedly came
out of the back of the Ritz, before the couple departed, to talk
to the photographers and "broadly speaking he was mocking
us", Mr Rat claimed.
At one point Mr Rat recalls
that one of the photographers had claimed that Mr Paul, who was
later found to be over the drink-drive limit, said: "I think
he has been drinking." Robert Weekes, for Henri Paul's parents,
noted: "There is no suggestion that Mr Paul's voice was slurred,
that he was unsteady on his feet or that his eyes were glazed.
On the basis of Mr Rat's statement you would not be able to conclude
that Henri Paul was drunk." Mr Rat was among seven photographers
arrested at the scene of the crash. He admits to being a "leading
pursuer" as the couple left the Ritz Hotel and probably one
of the first on the scene.
But several inconsistencies,
including a "down right lie" are obvious from his statements,
according to Tom de la Mare, for the Ritz Hotel.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Diana's driver 'appeared
drunk'
ITN - Monday, March 10, 2008 Driver Henri Paul appeared to be
"drunk" before the crash that killed Princess Diana,
the inquest into her death has heard.
In written evidence, Serge
Benhamou, the first paparazzi photographer to be heard at the
inquest, also admitted taking pictures of the bodies to the disgust
of horrified members of the public. He is among a number of paparazzi
who have refused to appear, either by video link from Paris or
in person at the London inquest, and whose police statements are
being read out.
In his first statement, made
on September 4, 1997, Mr Benhamou said he recalled seeing Mr Paul,
the Ritz security man, at the back of the Paris hotel. It was
late on August 20 1997, just a few hours before the crash which
killed Diana, her lover Dodi Fayed and Mr Paul, the inquest into
their deaths heard. Mr Benhamou told police: "He (Mr Paul)
must have been drinking. I believe that he was drinking."
He added that Mr Paul "was not his usual self".
In his police statement, Mr
Benhamou said: "I am positive that the man described as being
from the security department at the Ritz appeared to be drinking
and is indeed the same one that took the wheel of the Mercedes
at the rear of the hotel." He was among photographers who
had swarmed around the hotel and then set off, shadowing the Mercedes
in which Diana was traveling.
Mr Benhamou, who was on his
scooter, said he did not take any pictures along the journey from
the Ritz to the Alma Tunnel, scene of the crash. He claims he
lost touch with the car as it moved through Paris.
By the time he arrived there
were lots of people there and some photographers were already
in action. Some people had told him the emergency services had
been called, he said. He began taking the shots of the mangled
wreckage, with the bodies inside. He claimed he was acting on
instinct and immediately felt bad and has had sleepless nights
over his actions.
"I took the rear seat
passenger ... I took some whilst the police and the fire brigade
were at the scene and removing Dodi from the car," he said
in his September 5, 1997 statement. Mr Benhamou said: "People
told us to move as they did not like us taking photographs ...
They found it horrible for people to take photographs when other
people had been involved in a accident." Seven photographers
were arrested at the scene.
Mr Benhamou, who was not among
the original seven, was one of five photographers who were later
held in connection with the crash. Some other paparazzi were arrested
but not questioned, the jury was told. The French authorities
mounted an investigation against all but two of the photographers
on potential charges of failing to render assistance and involuntary
manslaughter. The investigation focused on the driving of the
paparazzi and whether they sought to help the injured. The case
against the paparazzi was dismissed in December 1999 when the
judge was satisfied the driving of the photographers had not caused
the crash.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Royals won't be
called to Diana inquest
ITN - Friday, March 7 , 2008 Neither the Queen or the Duke of
Edinburgh will be called to give evidence at the Princess Diana
inquest.
Mohamed al Fayed had sought
to call the Duke of Edinburgh as a witness, and it is also believed
that lawyers would have wanted a series of questions put to the
Queen. The Harrods tycoon insists that Diana, his son Dodi and
driver Henri Paul were killed in a Paris car crash in August 1997
in a murder plot ordered by Prince Philip. Mr al Fayed has claimed
it was carried out by MI6 on the Duke of Edinburgh's orders because
Diana was pregnant by Dodi, a Muslim, and the couple were set
to get engaged.
The Coroner, Lord Justice
Scott Baker, said: "In my judgment it is not expedient to
call the Duke of Edinburgh to give evidence, nor do I think the
Queen should be asked to answer the questions posed by Mr (Michael)
Mansfield. "Neither step will, in my judgement, further the
inquest process."
Meanwhile, Scotland Yard has
said former royal butler Paul Burrell will not be investigated
for perjury during the Princess Diana inquest. The servant-turned-reality-television-star
has refused to return to the UK to face allegations that he lied
to the jury in his evidence earlier this year despite calls from
coroner Lord Justice Scott Baker.
It followed an admission in
a secretly recorded conversation in a New York hotel last month
that the 49-year-old had not told the "whole truth".
Mr Burrell denies perjury and claims he was drunk and showing
off when he was filmed speaking to a television producer. A Scotland
Yard spokesman said: "Any action the Metropolitan Police
Service would take around allegations of perjury would not be
dealt with until conclusion of the inquests. "Any decision
taken would be in consultation with the Coroner after the jury
have reached their verdict." Lord Justice Scott Baker said
he had no power to compel Mr Burrell, who lives in Florida, to
return from abroad.
In January, Mr Burrell, who
was Diana's butler up until her death in August 1997, faced three
days of intense questioning at the High Court. Confusion focused
on a mysterious "secret" Diana referred to in a letter
she left for him shortly before her death in 1997. Although he
initially refused to disclose what the secret was, in a note to
the coroner he claimed it had simply been about a move abroad
to the US or South Africa. Both suggestions had already been aired
in court and were widely reported. But in a conversation with
TV producer Paul Khullar - a transcript of which was read in court
- Mr Burrell admitted planting "red herrings" in his
evidence. He said: "When you swear an oath you swear to tell
the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. I told the
truth as far as I could but I didn't tell the whole truth."
He went on: "I was very naughty, and I laid a couple of red
herrings. I couldn't help but do it, I know you shouldn't play
with justice, I know it's illegal, I do know and realize how serious
it is."
Mr Burrell admits he made
the comments but says he was simply "showing off" after
drinking several cocktails, his share of three bottles of wine,
a glass of whisky and half a bottle of champagne.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Diana inquest: Burrell
refuses to return
ITN - Thursday, March 6 ,2008 Princess Diana's former butler Paul
Burrell has refused to make a second appearance at the inquest
into her death.
The call for him to return
from the US came after a transcript from a video-taped conversation
revealed that he might not have told the whole truth. Coroner
Lord Justice Scott Baker told the hearing: "Mr Burrell is
abroad and I have no power to compel a witness to attend to give
evidence and he says that he is not going to be in the United
Kingdom in the near future."
Mr Burrell's reported comments
appeared in a tabloid newspaper on February 18. In a statement,
inquest officials said: "The coroner asked him to give further
evidence, either in person, or via video-link, from abroad. "Mr
Burrell has refused to do this and as he is currently outside
the court's jurisdiction, the coroner has no power to compel him
to give evidence."
The officials added: "In
these circumstances, the coroner has decided that further information
from Mr Burrell should be read to the jury to ensure they have
as complete a picture as possible. "The coroner's purpose,
in seeking to recall Mr Burrell, was for him to explain the alleged
inconsistencies between what he said in evidence and what he said
on the occasion referred to in The Sun. "Due to the ongoing
nature of the inquests, it is inappropriate for the inquest team
to make any further comments
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Dr Hasnat Khan insisted in
a long-awaited statement read to the jury at the High Court inquest
into the August 31, 1997 death of Diana that it was she and not
he who broke off their two-year affair. In earlier evidence, the
jury heard that Dr Khan was believed to have broken off the affair
because he could not tolerate the publicity attached to her celebrity
status.
In the statement, Dr Khan
said he told the princess on her return to London from a holiday
with Harrods boss Mohamed al Fayed and his family that he thought
she had "met someone else from the Mohamed al Fayed contingent".
He said this because "Diana was not her normal self",
he said. "I did not know who it was. It could have been a
bodyguard or anyone. I was surprised when she said there was no-one
else. At a second meeting, she said it was all over between us,
but she denied there was anyone else."
Dr Khan said he told Diana
he thought "her reputation was dead". It was only when
he heard news broadcasts that he learned about her relationship
with Mr al Fayed's son, Dodi.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Al Fayed appears
to be a buffoon,
but he's a dangerous monster
ruining reputations
19th February 2008
Allison
Pearson
It's not funny. Yes, I know
Mohamed Al Fayed comes across as a harmless comedy buffoon. The
Harrods' owner is as boorish and hilariously insensitive as Borat.
It's not only Al Fayed's windowpanecheck jacket with clashing
shirt which are in bad taste. In his broken English, he calls
Prince Philip a Nazi and a racist whose name ends with Frankenstein.
The royals are "a Dracula family" who paid gangsters
to slaughter Diana because she was pregnant with a Muslim's baby.
Al Fayed rolls his eyes and lifts his beseeching hands to the
heavens like a Cairo carpet-seller offering gullible tourists
"very good price".
And that's the problem. Al
Fayed appears to think everyone and everything can be bought.
Bodyguards, lawyers, friends, women, reputations - all of them
should be for sale as far as the Egyptian tycoon is concerned.
Truth is a commodity to be sold to the highest bidder. Danger:
Al Fayed is a crazed lunatic propelled on by his huge wealth Anyone
else is "talking baloney things". Al Fayed has the deepest
pockets so the truth belongs to him. Even love has a price tag,
and grief for a dead son can be assuaged if only you throw enough
money at the problem.
Fayed's rants against the
royals are the most entertaining show in town. What a character,
eh? You can't help smiling when he berates a BBC royal reporter
outside court, calling him a "bloody idiot" and accusing
him of being in MI6, can you? But take another look and feel the
smile freeze. This clown is the same man who destroyed the Princess
of Wales. The day she met Mohamed Al Fayed was the worst day of
Diana's life.
She swapped one dysfunctional
family which paraded her as a prize ornament for another, only
the Al Fayeds had much weaker security. In Paris, bodyguard Trevor
Rees-Jones said he warned the Boss they needed more help to protect
Diana from the paparazzi but Al Fayed didn't listen. More than
ten years later, he's still not listening.
The blame has to belong to
someone else - anyone except Mohamed Al Fayed. On Monday, a barrister
at the Diana inquest accused Al Fayed of "not caring what
he said about other human beings". It's one thing to defame
the Duke of Edinburgh. He is experienced enough to shrug off crazy
allegations. But what about implicating Lady Sarah McCorquodale
in a conspiracy to kill her own sister? Or calling Trevor Rees-Jones
a "crook" because the decent, ordinary security guy
from Wales, the sole survivor of the Paris crash, stubbornly refused
to make up any memories which might support his Boss's remarkable
claims?
When I met Trevor's lovely
parents, Jill and Ernie, they told me they had to go into a Park
Lane flat and abduct their badly injured boy from Al Fayed's sinister
clutches in a scene straight out of a Len Deighton novel. No,
it's not Prince Philip who runs some manipulative secretive organisation,
it's Al Fayed. Al Fayed who deals in crude racist stereotypes.
Al Fayed who tries to use
his power and wealth like a cosh to silence the people who dare
to challenge him. Al Fayed who is so snobbish and emotionally
stunted he dismisses Diana's love affair with surgeon Hasnat Khan
because the man "lived in a council flat" and didn't
have any money to take care of her.
A permanent memorial to Diana
and Dodi al-Fayed is pictured in the Harrods store in London
Al Fayed who casts himself
as Diana's tearful protector, but then besmirches her memory by
saying she was pregnant and causing her most intimate biological
details to be paraded through a courtroom a decade after she should
have been left to rest in peace. See, not that funny, is he?
I reckon it's high time for
us to stop chuckling indulgently at Mohamed, the comedy buffoon.
The one who somehow persuaded our justice system to hold an embarrassing
£10million inquest purely to satisfy his desire for his
day in court. But he will never be satisfied. He will always think
Diana and Dodi were murdered. He will always think Prince Philip's
surname is Frankenstein.
After this week, I trust we
know who the real monster is.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Diana conspiracy
theory unravels
as Fayed's investigator tells
of lies and lack of evidence· Former detective makes admissions
to inquest
· Stevens demands apology for criticisms of report -Stephen
Bates The Guardian, Friday February 15 2008 Article history ·
Advertising guide License/buy
our content About this articleClose This article appeared in the
Guardian on Friday February 15 2008 on p3 of the Top stories section.
It was last updated at 01:26 on February 15 2008. After 69 days
of evidence into events surrounding the death of Princess Diana,
Mohamed Al Fayed's allegations of high-level conspiracies and
cover-ups began to crumble in an extraordinary hour of cross examination
yesterday as his former director of security at Harrods admitted
he could not substantiate any of them.
John Macnamara, a former Scotland
Yard detective chief superintendent who was in charge of Fayed's
own investigation team for five years after the Paris crash in
August 1997, grew increasingly uncomfortable at the inquest as
he was repeatedly forced to acknowledge that he had no evidence,
apart from what Fayed told him, that the princess had been engaged
to Dodi Fayed, or had been pregnant at the time of their deaths.
The acknowledgments ran counter to the constant claims for more
than a decade.
He went on to admit that,
despite having made sworn police statements, he had no evidence
of a criminal conspiracy on the part of the British and French
security services, or the then British ambassador to Paris, or
the Duke of Edinburgh to kill the couple, or that the princess's
bodyguards had been paid by British intelligence to lie about
the crash - again all allegations made by his former employer.
Macnamara conceded US intelligence had told him they had no material
relating to the princess's death and had never kept her under
surveillance, as the Fayed side have alleged. He also acknowledged
that a police statement he had signed stating that he had identified
Dodi's body on its return to England was false. And he admitted
he had lied when he told a television interviewer 10 days after
the crash that there was no evidence that Henri Paul, the couple's
chauffeur, had been drinking when he already knew there was a
bar receipt showing that Paul had drunk two Ricard pastis spirits
shortly before the fatal journey.
The devastating admissions
came under cross-examination from Richard Horwell QC, representing
the Metropolitan police, while Fayed, who will himself be called
to give evidence to the inquest on Monday, sat watching grimly
a few feet away. They followed tense exchanges earlier in the
day when Lord Stevens, the former Metropolitan police commissioner
who conducted a three-year, £3.7m investigation into the
crash, which resulted in an 832-page report in December 2006,
repeatedly demanded an apology for "scurrilous" allegations
by Fayed that the inquiry had been negligent.
Asked whether he had been
got at by the establishment to doctor the report, Stevens - who
previously conducted the shoot-to-kill investigations in Northern
Ireland - said angrily: "That is not the case. The reason
I wanted to do this investigation was because of my investigations
in Northern Ireland, where my integrity was everything to me.
"To think that I would even contemplate taking 14 or 15 officers,
the whole French investigation along with that is absolutely absurd
and crazy. "Allegations trip off people's tongues, it's just
not right. The whole team, that's what I find so hurtful. That
I could manipulate them into saying things and going down a criminal
course of action, it's absolutely absurd and we want an apology."
When Macnamara was called
to give evidence he agreed he had initially believed the crash
was an accident, though he said that when he met his employer
at Fulham mortuary on the afternoon after the crash Fayed was
already saying the couple had been murdered and had told him:
"They have done it at last. They have killed her." Asked
by the coroner, Lord Scott Baker, whether Fayed had said who "they"
were, Macnamara replied: "No, he did not and I was quite
surprised because I had never heard any suggestion of that myself."
Later the coroner intervened
again to ask why Macnamara had not apologised to Trevor Rees-Jones,
the bodyguard who survived the crash, for making allegations that
he had been paid by the security services to say the crash was
an accident. When he said he had not apologised, the coroner asked:
"Why not?" Macnamara replied: "That was my belief
at the time."
After lunch they clashed again
when Macnamara admitted telling a US television interviewer that
Paul had drunk only pineapple juice before the crash and had added
"nothing else" even though he had seen the bar receipt.
Scott Baker intervened to ask: "Was it the whole truth?"
Macnamara: "No." Scott Baker: "As a former chief
superintendent surely you above anybody are aware of telling the
truth in public ... a half truth is not good enough ... One of
the problems for the jury is if you tell lies on some occasions,
when can they tell you are telling the truth on other occasions?"
Macnamara answered: "I have come here to tell the truth."
The conspiracies
· Car crash was no
accident
Mohamed Al Fayed claims the crash in the Alma tunnel was engineered
by security services. No evidence of flashing lights in driver's
eyes
· Paparazzi caused
the crash
Car was being pursued but cameramen do not appear to have got
ahead of it, though they took photographs immediately afterwards
· Ancient white Fiat
Uno
Seems to have brushed the Mercedes just before crash but never
located. Seems unlikely vehicle for assassin
· Diana pregnant
No sign detected at hospital. Friends say she was on the pill
· Diana about to be
engaged
Dodi bought a ring hours before the crash. Friends say she liked
Dodi but had said she had no intention of marrying him. She told
them she needed another marriage "like a rash on the face".
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Burrell: I lied
to Di inquest
By EMILY SMITH US Editor Published:
18 Feb 2008
SHAMEFUL Paul Burrell has
sensationally confessed he LIED to the Princess Diana inquest
– and could now face arrest. To
see and hear the Burrell video- http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article813688.ece
The Sun has uncovered a bombshell
video tape on which Di’s former butler Burrell brags of committing
perjury. Slippery Burrell freely admitted he KNEW he broke the
law by lying to the Princess Diana inquest — and added: “I
was very naughty.” The former royal butler was taped revealing
that he threw in “red herrings” and held back facts
during his evidence at the High Court in London. Burrell’s
disgraceful lies mean he faces arrest on suspicion of perjury
— with ten years’ jail if convicted. It could also derail
the £10million inquiry that is gripping the world.
All smiles ... Burrell opens
up
The dynamite video, exclusively obtained by The Sun, shows Burrell,
49, bragging about how he deliberately misled the coroner, High
Court judge Lord Justice Scott Baker. In his lengthy rant, the
two-faced flunky tells how he: WITHHELD details of a crucial conversation
with the Queen months after Diana’s death in a Paris car
crash in 1997. RAKED in millions by cashing in on his royal connections,
despite his claims he was Diana’s “Rock”. THINKS
Mohammed Fayed, father of Diana’s lover Dodi who was killed
with her, is DYING. PLANS to become a US citizen when Camilla
becomes Queen — adding: “Britain can f*** off.”
Shameless Burrell can be seen
laughing as he tells a pal: “When you swear an oath, you
have to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.
“I told the truth as far as I could — but I didn’t
tell the whole truth. Perjury is not a nice thing to have to contemplate.
“I was very naughty and I made a couple of red herrings,
and I couldn’t help doing it. “I know you shouldn’t
play with justice and I know it’s illegal and I realise how
serious it is.”
Burrell tries to justify his
lies — even claiming Diana’s SPIRIT was with him at
the inquest. When asked if it was wrong to commit perjury, Burrell
reveals: “Maybe I didn’t tell the whole truth. Who was
it to protect? My own integrity. “Do you honestly think I’ve
told everything I know? Of course I haven’t. “Do you
honestly think I am actually going to sit there in a court of
law and tip out my guts and tell them? That’s what he wanted
me to do — the judge — to actually tell them what I
know, all the secrets. No! You know me better than that.”
Burrell had previously claimed the Queen told him about “dark
forces” and “powers at work” in Britain in their
now-famous meeting a few months after the fatal crash in a Paris
underpass. But at the Diana inquest in January, Burrell failed
to give details, revealing only that the Queen told him of her
concerns about Diana’s romance with Dodi. When his pal suggests
on the tape that Burrell “did a deal” with the Queen
to hold back the real facts of Diana’s death, he arrogantly
adds: “Well, it’s the Queen. “I sacrificed my own
integrity for the bigger picture. No I didn’t tell the whole
truth. But he put me in the most unenviable position, that coroner.
Because he said I had to report the conversation I had with the
Queen.
Bragging butler ... Burrell
on video
“The conversation with the Queen was three hours long. And
I wasn’t about to sit there and divulge everything she said
to me. I wasn’t going do that. I said, ‘Do I have to
answer that question?’ He said, ‘Yes, you do’.
I said, ‘Well, she showed great concern’. That was all
I was prepared to say.” Then, mocking the coroner, he sneers:
“And he still let me get away with it.” Burrell —
who had previously pushed for an inquest into the deaths of Diana,
36, and Dodi, 42 — even reveals on the tape he planned not
to turn up at the hearing. But aides persuaded him to go because
bad publicity about his glaring absence could affect sales of
his range of royal merchandise in America. He explains: “I
contemplated very seriously not going. I really didn’t want
to go, right up to the last minute.
Shameful boasts ... Burrell
shakes pal's hand
and relaxes in chair during video
“People who do my merchandising
brands in America said, ‘If you didn’t go, its not going
to look good for you’.” The three-hour tape was shot
in New York while money-grabbing Burrell was making deals to further
line his pockets with a royal-inspired range of jewellery and
table linens. Sipping champagne in a hotel room, Burrell says
he felt Diana’s spirit guiding him in court and that lying
was “what she wanted.” He says: “I do feel her
at times, I felt it in that courtroom, I felt the indignity and
I felt her indignity too. “She knew what I was doing, and
why I was doing it. It was what she wanted — and that’s
between me and her. “The trouble is, you can’t say that
in a courtroom. The coroner will keep you in contempt of court
and then you’re in prison. There was no way I was going there.”
After admitting he knew how serious it is to lie in the highest
court in the UK, Burrell explains: “In my first book I didn’t
really say what I wanted to say. "And in my second book I
didn’t really say what I wanted to say because I measured
it and said it carefully.” Now he says he will carry the
real truth about Diana to his grave. He tells the pal: “I
made a promise to myself and to her, I will never write another
book. “I have written everything I want to write in those
two books. “I think she is saying to me, ‘You’ve
done what you have to do and now you’ve said enough’.”
Bizarrely, Burrell also claims
on the tape that Harrods boss Mr Fayed, 75 — who believes
his son Dodi and Diana were murdered by the security services
on the orders of Prince Philip — is dying. Burrell said:
“The sadness of all this is, I think he’s dying and
this is his last shot and I think this will kill him. He’s
not going to get anything from this, its all PR.” The former
servant was left emotionally battered after three days of devastating
interrogation in the High Court — describing the experience
as “horrid”. Burrell was savaged by the coroner as a
Princess Diana “secret” he was forced to reveal to the
inquest was exposed as OLD information. He said it was her intention
to spend most of her time in the US or South Africa. Now Burrell
says on the tape that he is prepared to turn his back on his country.
In a shocking outburst he rants: “They don’t get it
in Britain. They think I’m living off the death of the Princess
and off her name.
"I don’t have a
Princess Diana doll that I am selling throughout America. I would
make a fortune. But I don’t do that. "So I get tarred
and feathered for things I haven’t done. "My brand isn’t
in Britain, I will never be forgotten in Britain.
"Quite frankly, Britain
can f*** off. I don’t want to go back to Britain. The crunch
will be when the Queen dies and Charles becomes King and ‘She’
becomes Queen. “At that time I will be very happy to give
back my British passport. It’s either that or to chain myself
to the railings of Buckingham Palace.” Greedy Burrell goes
on: “That’s why I am here (in the US) indefinitely.
I was here today to close a deal with my jewellery — royal
jewellery I designed myself, just diamonds. I keep adding to my
licensing programme. “I don’t have to think about Britain
any more. Britain’s a tiny little place.” Burrell —
estimated to be worth £20MILLION — brags about the
fortune he has made in the States. He gloats: “My furniture
turned over two million dollars this year.”
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
News'Tony Blair
gave order to kill Diana',
Al Fayed tells crash inquest
Last updated on 18th February 2008
• Al Fayed: Royals conspired to slaughter Diana and Dodi
• Cover-up 'involved every member of the establishment'
• Prince Philip is a 'Nazi' and 'racist'
Tony Blair personally sanctioned
the murder of Diana, the inquest heard today.
Mohamed al-Fayed said the
man who called Diana the "Peoples Princess" had instigated
the "horrendous and horrific action". Mr Fayed said
the crash had been orchestrated by MI6 and French intelligence.
Mr Fayed's claim came today as he denounced the Royal Family and
virtually the entire Establishment over the deaths of Diana and
his son Dodi. Giving evidence on oath in the High Court, he stuck
to his claim that they were murdered in a 1997 Paris car crash
to prevent her marrying a Muslim. He claimed the Mercedes carrying
his son and the Princess was deliberately struck by French paparazzo
James Andanson, who he believed was a MI6 agent.
Mohamed Al Fayed walks into
the High Court today to claim his son Dodi and Diana were murdered
in Paris in 1997. 'This is my moment' he told waiting reporters
Mr Fayed told the court he believed that Mr Andanson — who
was later found dead in a burntout car — had been murdered
by the secret services to ensure his silence. He said those involved
in the death plot or subsequent cover-up were Prince Charles and
Prince Philip, Tony Blair, judges, Paul Burrell, police chiefs,
senior politicians, the secret services of Britain and France,
the CIA, newspaper editors and even Diana's sister.
The coroner, Lord Justice
Scott Baker, said: "There seems to be an awful lot of people
involved in this conspiracy." The Harrods tycoon said Charles
and Philip could not accept that "my son as a person who
is different religion, naturally tanned, curly hair" could
be the stepfather of Prince William, a future king. He called
the royals the "Dracula family", said Prince Philip
was "Frankenstein", and described the Duchess of Cornwall
as Charles's "crocodile wife".
Mr Fayed said "this is
my moment" as he entered the High Court in London.
In an emotionally charged
testimony, he claimed that Diana told him a month before her death
that the royals wanted "rid of her". He listed those
included in the cover-up as every member of the Royal Family including
Diana's sister, butler Paul Burrell, two Scotland Yard Commissioners,
secret service agents on both sides of the Channel and leading
medical experts in Paris and London. Mr Fayed claimed the plot
involved scores of others including newspaper editors and reporters,
politicians such as the then home secretary Jack Straw as well
as "stooge judges".
Mr Al Fayed claimed Tony Blair,
the prime minister at the time, the Royals and the security services
all colluded in the cover-up
The coroner, Lord Justice Scott Baker, said: "There seems
to be an awful lot of people involved in this conspiracy."
Mr Fayed said the leader of the death plot was Prince Philip,
who he called a "racist, Nazi, and Frankenstein" who
should be sent back to Germany where he came from.
Mr Fayed repeated his claims
that Diana was pregnant and was about to tell her two sons and
announce her engagement to Dodi. He is due to spend at least two
days giving evidence to the inquest into the deaths of Diana and
Dodi. He said: "Princess Diana told me personally before
and during the holiday we shared in July 1997 of her fears. "She
told me that she knew Prince Philip and Prince Charles were trying
to get rid of her." Then in the days before the crash, the
Princess called Mr Fayed again. He said Diana rang him to reveal
that she was pregnant, that his son Dodi had proposed and she
had accepted. "Diana told me on the telephone that she was
pregnant. I'm the only person they told," he said. "They
told me they were engaged and would announce their engagement
on Monday morning. She would speak to her sons when she returned
from Paris."
Mr Fayed then claimed Diana
"suffered for 20 years from this Dracula family" and
the moment she had found love and happiness, a plot was hatched
to kill her and his son. Mr Fayed said that Diana told him she
had entrusted her fears for her life, contained in a mystery box,
to Mr Burrell should anything happen to her. Mohamed Al Fayed
claims Dodi and Diana were planning to marry but said the Establishment
could not accept a Muslim as step-father to Princes William and
Harry
Mr Fayed outlined the case
that the crash had been orchestrated by MI6 and French intelligence.
He claimed the Mercedes carrying his son and the Princess was
deliberately struck by French paparazzo James Andanson, whom he
believed was an MI6 agent. Mr Fayed told the court he believed
that Mr Andanson, who was later found dead in a burnt-out car,
had been murdered by the secret services to ensure his silence.
The crash plot, he claimed, mirrored an identical MI6 plan to
kill Serbian president Slobodan Milosevic by using a blinding
flash light to disable the driver, which he claimed happened in
Paris in August 1997.
Mr Fayed broke down in the
witness box as he was asked about the moment he was told of his
son's death. Asked by Ian Burnett, QC, for the coroner: "Can
you remember who telephoned you with this dreadful news?"
Mr Fayed replied: "I think one of security, I think maybe
Kes Wingfield, to the best of my recollection." Mr Burnett
asked the Harrods owner if he remembered a call from the Paris
Ritz hotel president Frank Klein. Mr Fayed replied: "It's
difficult. I'd like to know why you are asking me things like
that." Mr Klein has previously told the inquest that he phoned
Mr Fayed to break the news as soon as he was informed and recounted
how his boss told him: "This is not an accident."
Mr Fayed told the jury today:
"Security called me; he called me after that. I told him
exactly what collected in my mind, all what Diana told me, exactly
what happened." He said driver Henri Paul, who also died
in the crash, had been "duped" into working for MI6
and had 20,000 francs in his pocket from them when he died.
Mr Al Fayed called the Duke
of Edinburgh a 'Nazi' and a 'racist' during his evidence Mr Fayed
claimed the death was covered up by a vast conspiracy which went
from the top of the Royal Family and the Establishment and involved
"dark forces" on both sides of the Channel. It started
almost as soon as the crash took place. The French police and
medical services, including two eminent professors Dominique Lecomte
and Gilbert Pepin, united in the conspiracy. This involved faking
medical evidence including switching the blood of Mr Paul for
another corpse in the Paris mortuary to show he had been drinking.
He claimed Diana's sister Lady Sarah McCorquodale admitted to
him after the crash that she believed her sister's death was suspicious.
But within days, he said,
she joined the conspiracy. He accused Mr Burrell and Lady Sarah
of lying to the inquest because they failed to secure the contents
of Diana's secret box. Inside, he said, Diana kept the so-called
mystery "proof", a copy of the note, that contained
her specific fears that she would be murdered in a car crash to
enable Charles to remarry. The box was also said to contain threatening
correspondence from Prince Philip. He said: "Sarah told me
she thought the crash was suspicious and she would find the box
and keep the contents safe. She has not done so. Paul Burrell
promised me he would keep the contents of the box safe, he didn't
keep his promise."
Mr Fayed also also claimed
that Mr Burrell, Diana's ex-butler who was arrested for allegedly
stealing royal treasures, joined the cover-up when he was "freed
by the Queen so he would keep quiet". Mr Burrell was cleared
at the Old Bailey of stealing from Princess Diana, Prince Charles
and William and Harry after a last-minute intervention from the
Queen. After the case, he famously declared: "She came through
for me, the lady came through for me." Mr Fayed said: "The
next thing I heard was that he was arrested (for) stealing possessions
and he was set free by the Queen so he would keep quiet."
He named three peers, Lord Mishcon, Diana's personal counsel,
and former Scotland Yard Chiefs Lord Condon and Lord Steven, as
being involved in the cover-up.
Reading from a statement,
Mr Fayed said: "My belief that my son and Princess Diana
were murdered was confirmed when I learned that the two leading
Commissioners, Lord Condon and Lord Stevens, did not show the
coroner the note made by a leading lawyer, Lord Mishcon, detailing
the Princess's fears for her life." He added: "I cannot
believe that they sat upon such an important note and did not
pass it on to the (examining French magistrate) Judge Stephan
in Paris and (the then coroner) Michael Burgess.
"I believe that they
acted unprofessionally and they must have no conscience."
The Harrods boss described the note as "devastating"
and said it explained Diana's fears in "black and white".
The Princess, Dodi and driver Henri Paul all died when their car
crashed in the Pont D'Alma tunnel in Paris. Mr Al Fayed argues
that it was not a tragic accident but murder.
Mr Fayed claimed the conspiracy
was was masterminded by Prince Philip, a "racist" and
a "Nazi" who wanted Diana out of the way. He claimed
the Duke of Edinburgh hatched the plot with Prince Charles to
assassinate Diana, "to clear the decks" so he could
marry Camilla Parker Bowles, now the Duchess of Cornwall. Mr Burnett
asked Mr Fayed: "All this stems from your belief that Prince
Philip is not only a racist but a Nazi as well?" To which
Mr Fayed replied: "That's right." Growing increasingly
agitated, Mr Fayed went on: "It is time to send him back
to Germany or from where he came from." He added: "You
want to know his original name, it ends with Frankenstein."
When Mr Burnett questioned his statement, Mr Fayed added: "Well,
it sounds like Frankenstein." He added: "He is a person
who grew up with the Nazis, brought up by his auntie who married
Hitler's general. This is the man who is in charge (of the country),
who can do anything, who manipulates. They are still living in
the 18th and 19th century." Asked if he believed the Queen
was involved in the conspiracy, Mr Fayed added: "I don't
think the Queen is as important as that."
When he was asked if Prince
Charles was involved too, he said: "Yes, definitely."
"He participated definitely and I am sure he knows what is
going to happen because he would like to get on and marry his
Camilla. "And this is what happened. They cleared the decks,
they finished her, they murdered her and now he is happy. "He
married his crocodile wife and he is happy with that. Those are
the two main people, Prince Philip and Prince Charles. "He
will not accept my son as a person who is a different religion,
naturally tanned, curly hair. "They will not accept that
he will have anything to do with the future king."
Mr Fayed said: "You ask
me where is the proof? How can you get the proof when I am facing
a steel wall of the security services. "I have been fighting
for the past ten years to reach where we are now, to have a formal
inquest with a jury of ordinary people. "I hope they have
realised during the last four months what has happened and all
the obstacles," he said.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Mohamed al Fayed
brands Royals as "that Dracula family" and Duke of Edinburgh
a "Nazi"
at Diana inquest
By Mirror.co.uk 18/02/2008
Mohamen Fayed video http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/popup/?rn=1095451&ch=5127641&cl=6494496&src=ukyvideo
http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/popup/?rn=1095451&ch=5127641&cl=6445221&src=ukyvideo
Mohamen Fayed video News picturesMohamed al Fayed angrily hit
out in the High Court today, describing the Royals as "that
Dracula family” and declaring that his son Dodi and Princess
Diana were both "murdered".
In a series of explosive outbursts
at the High Court in central London this morning, the Harrods
owner branded the Duke of Edinburgh a "Nazi" and a "racist",
declaring it was "time to send him back to Germany from where
he comes". "You want to know his original name - it
ends with Frankenstein”, he added. After stating he would
"make no allegations” while taking the stand, al Fayed
subsequently went on to claim that Diana had personally told him
that she feared there was a conspiracy to kill her and that she
was pregnant with his son’s child.
"Princess Diana told
me personally before and during the holiday we shared in July
1997 of her fears,” he told the court. "She told me
that she knew Prince Philip and Prince Charles were trying to
get rid of her." He said French intelligence had cooperated
with MI6 to carry out "the murder" in order to "clear
the decks" so that Prince Charles could marry Camilla Parker
Bowles.
He then claimed that the Princess
had told him she was pregnant in a phone call. "Diana told
me on the telephone that she was pregnant. I'm the only person
they told. "They told me they were engaged and would announce
their engagement on Monday morning. She would speak to her sons
when she returned from Paris."
He also disputed evidence
that driver Henri Paul, who also died in the crash, was drunk,
and alleged that he had been part of the plot. "When he was
killed, they find 20,000 francs in his pocket, because he disappeared
three hours before the murder being briefed on what to do,"
Al Fayed said. The Egyptian billionaire also raised concerns about
a message - dubbed the Mishcon note - outlining her fears in 1995
that there was a plot to kill her in a car crash. "My belief
that my son and Princess Diana were murdered was confirmed when
I learned that the two leading (Metropolitan Police) Commissioners
- Lord Condon and Lord Stevens - did not show the coroner the
note."
Mr Al Fayed's allegations
regarding the car crash in Paris on August 31, 1997 had already
been outlined to jurors by Coroner Lord Justice Scott Baker.
He told them: "It's his
belief that a decision was taken to kill both Diana and Dodi.
He places Prince Philip at the heart of the conspiracy.
He has maintained that Diana
was killed because the establishment could not accept an Egyptian
Muslim as stepfather to the future King of England. Before beginning
to give evidence at their inquest, Mr al Fayed told waiting reporters
outside the court: "I have been fighting for 10 years and
this is the moment for me to say exactly what I feel." "What
happened to my son and Princess Diana and with God's help I hope
the truth will come out."
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Diana Inquest: As
Al Fayed finally gets his day in court,
can he control his anger -
and lust for revenge?
Last updated on 17th February 2008
This is the moment for which he has been waiting ten long, bitter
years. He has prepared carefully, with consummate coaching. He
has assured his advisers he will not lose control, however provocative
the questions put to him. But the stage is set for a barn-storming
performance today when Mohamed Al Fayed steps into the witness
box at the inquest of Princess Diana and his son, Dodi. "He's
very calm, very collected," says one of his team. "He's
looking forward to saying in evidence what he's been saying all
these years."
Scathing allegations: Al Fayed wants to reveal the 'truth' about
Diana's death This is the first time a battery of QCs representing
those who have been assailed by Al Fayed's hotly repeated accusations
of murder and Establishment conspiracy have been on hand to cross-examine
him.
Al Fayed, 75, is said not to be nervous. Many will be surprised
at this. After all, some of his most scathing and significant
accusations have already been shot down due to lack of evidence,
and Michael Mansfield, his own QC, has had some awkward - not
to say embarrassing - moments in front of the coroner, Lord Justice
Scott Baker.
Al Fayed steps up to say his
piece, having himself painfully heard, sitting in his daily position
at the side of Court 73 facing the jury, from witnesses including
doctors and Diana's friends, that the Princess was not pregnant,
that she was not engaged to Dodi, that she was not in love with
Dodi, that she still loved surgeon Hasnat Khan. He has also heard
extracts of letters to Diana from Prince Philip - whom he claims
led an Establishment plot to murder the Princess to stop her marrying
his Muslim son - that display a caring fondness and to which the
Princess replied with personal letters beginning "Dear Pa".
And he must still be feeling the sting of Lord Justice Scott Baker's
words to Mansfield after the jury heard a letter written by Al
Fayed to Lord Stevens, the former Metropolitan Police Commissioner
who led the inquiry into the episode and concluded the crash was
a traffic accident.
Written on Harrods writing
paper, from the chairman's office on February 9, 2006, Al Fayed
said of his former bodyguards Trevor Rees-Jones, Kez Wingfield
and Ben Murrell: "It is a fact that these men were turned
against me by the security services. .. The fact is Trevor Rees-Jones
did not lose his memory. He knows exactly what happened between
Rue Cambon and the Alma Tunnel. "He knows the detail which
the security services are so anxious to suppress . . ." The
fact is? When Mansfield admitted to the coroner that he was "not
in a position to produce any material to support" these assertions
- in other words, he hadn't a shred of evidence - he could only
take the blows as Lord Justice Scott Baker asked: "Why haven't
they been withdrawn by Mr Al Fayed since February 9, 2006? "They
are very grave allegations, and one would have thought that a
man with any decency who was not going to pursue them would have
withdrawn them." Similarly, with the Queen's former
Private Secretary Lord Fellowes,
who is married to Diana's elder sister Lady Jane and who, according
to Al Fayed, was at the British Embassy in Paris in charge of
the deadly proceedings as Diana and Dodi were eliminated by MI6.
Last week Lord Fellowes told the jury where he was on the fateful
Paris night - he and his wife had visitors in Norfolk and he spent
the evening at "an entertainment" in a church hall listening
to the writer Sir John Mortimer. Michael Mansfield was looking
at his notes. He did not challenge this. Mr Al Fayed's theory
suffered a further blow yesterday when it emerged that the European
Court of Human Rights rejected all his claims about Dodi and Diana.
Judges sitting in Strasbourg found no evidence of foul play, instead
agreeing that the deaths were caused by a simple road traffic
accident. They said Mr Al Fayed's case, in which he complained
the crash victims had been denied the right to life enshrined
in the European Convention on Human Rights, was "manifestly
ill-founded" and ruled it "inadmissible".
His standing as "a man
of decency" already shot through by the coroner, Al Fayed
knows that in the witness box he will be asked to explain what
lies behind his claims and if he has proof. He knows his performance,
and the impression he makes on the jury, could be crucial to the
result. It's unlikely he will repeat his more elaborate accusations,
such as his description of Prince Philip as a "racist Nazi".
But anyone anticipating his humiliation under a barrage of facts
is likely to be disappointed. In legal circles they still talk
of his performance in the witness box at Neil Hamilton's 1999
libel action over claims that the former Tory MP took cash and
gifts in exchange for asking questions in the House of Commons.
It is remembered as "brilliant".
When Hamilton's counsel Desmond
Browne asked him why he was taking so much cash out of his bank
account Al Fayed retorted: "It's my money. What's it got
to do with you?" This time, of course, there will be no jokes.
As one of his team says: "This isn't politics, this is personal.
His son has died." That is the key factor that ensures there
are likely to be deeply emotional exchanges. For this is a man
who is desperate to prove, at the very least, that there was a
motive to kill Diana. Afterall, no motive, no murder. If the jury
decide Dodi and Diana had accidental deaths, then the focus swings
on to Mohamed Al Fayed himself as the man whose own carelessness
is why his son and the People's Princess lost their lives.
As Martin Gregory, author
of Diana: The Last Days, puts it: "On the night she died
Diana was travelling from a Fayed hotel to a Fayed apartment in
a Fayed car with a Fayed driver, sitting next to Fayed's son and
behind a Fayed bodyguard. Despite this, Fayed has hired enough
lawyers to take his family name out of the equation."
Tom Bower, Mohamed's biographer,
notes that no one anticipated them coming to The Ritz hotel that
night, no one knew about the idea to leave the hotel by the back
door, which was hatched by Dodi and approved by his father, and
no one knew which route Henri Paul was taking - "so how could
any potential killers have the time to make a plan?" This
has never impressed Al Fayed, whose grieving for his eldest child,
the only one by his first marriage, is understandable, and whose
obsession with the case has drained his personal fortune of at
least £10 million. Al Fayed's life has barely changed on
the outside since Dodi's death. Weekdays in London, weekends at
his house in Surrey, alternate Saturdays to Craven Cottage for
games of struggling Premier League club Fulham, which he owns,
occasional visits to his 65,000-acre estate in Scotland, no obvious
days off.
"But Dodi's death is always churning inside him," says
the family friend. "He can't rid himself of it. It can never
die until he does."
It was Al Fayed who fought
for an inquest, and for a jury. He and his advisers proclaim this
a victory. But after four months of evidence in which every last
intimate detail of poor Diana's life has been prised out for public
scrutiny - much of it irrelevant - one is entitled to ask if Mohamed
Al Fayed and his legal team, led by "Moneybags" Mansfield,
still feel any real satisfaction or justification for this sorry
triumph. Al Fayed is unmoved. "He believes he is doing the
right thing," says his friend. So, would a verdict of accidental
death end the matter? Al Fayed's spokesman says: "If all
the witnesses are called and all of them tell what they really
know, Mr Al Fayed will accept the jury's verdict," he says.
This sounds like Al Fayed-speak for No. For all the witnesses
are not being called. They would have to include Prince Philip
and the Queen, not to mention Prince Charles, the man put in the
frame by Diana's handwritten letter expressing fears that "my
husband" was planning an "accident" in her car
so he could marry Tiggy.
And former butler Paul Burrell
has told the inquest that the Queen warned Burrell about 'powers
at work' that could harm him. What powers, he didn't know. Shouldn't
the inquest be told? But neither the Queen nor Prince Philip nor
Charles has been summoned to give evidence and the coroner is
unlikely to call them. He is expected to explain his reasons before
the jury retires to bring in its verdict. Then there is the absent
pathologist Professor Dominique Lecomte, who conducted driver
Henri Paul's post-mortem, and Dr Gilbert Pepin, who tested his
blood. Al Fayed still claims that Paul's blood, which showed he
was more than three times over the French alcohol limit of 0.5g
per litre, was switched in the laboratory and that he was not
drunk. "These doctors are a major factor, but they are refusing
to take part," protests one figure close to Al Fayed. "They
should be cross-examined."
The doctors' findings will
be read out by a French police officer. So why don't they come?
They blame Al Fayed because they are both being sued by him in
France alleging "false evidence". (He is also sueing
the French police for not treating Diana's and Dodi's deaths as
"murder".) A legal source close to Ms Lecomte and Dr
Pepin in Paris says: "They are highly experienced professionals
who deal in hard facts and have given all the help they can to
those investigating these tragic deaths. They are fed up with
being drawn into these eccentric conspiracy theories." Al
Fayed is likely to be in the witness box for two days, but there
are five more weeks before Lord Justice Scott Baker sends out
the jury to consider its verdict. After that, the man responsible
for this tasteless examination of Diana's existence, currently
costing the taxpayer £6 million and rising, will have to
ask himself: Was it really worth it?
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Ex-Met chief facing Diana
inquest
Press Assoc. - Thursday, February 14, 2008 Former Metropolitan
Police Commissioner Lord Stevens is giving evidence at the Diana,
Princess of Wales inquest.
Britain's former top policeman
produced the Paget report into the Paris crash which killed Diana,
her lover Dodi Fayed and driver Henri Paul in August 1997. It
is reported that the investigation cost £3.6 million. Lord
Stevens launched Operation Paget in 2004 at the request of Michael
Burgess, the Royal Coroner who was overseeing the future Diana
inquest at the time.
His brief was specifically
to investigate allegations that Diana and Dodi were murdered,
the theory most commonly associated with Dodi's father, Mohamed
al Fayed. The former Scotland Yard chief rejected the murder claims
when the Paget report was published in December 2006. The inquest
jury, sitting in central London, will return a separate verdict
later this year on the evidence they have heard.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Apology over Diana
probe demanded
By Paul Majendie Reuters - Thursday, February 14, 2008 LONDON
(Reuters) -
The former police chief who
conducted an inquiry into Princess Diana's death angrily denied
on Thursday "scurrilous allegations" that he had not
done his job properly. "Allegations trip off people's tongues
-- it's just not right," John Stevens told the London inquest
into the deaths of Diana and her lover Dodi al-Fayed, killed in
a high-speed Paris car crash in August 1997.
"I am looking for an
apology in relation to that," he told the court. "There
were scurrilous allegations made." His police probe concluded
in December 2006 that Diana's death was a tragic accident and
that she was not the victim of a murder plot, as has been alleged
by Dodi's father, luxury storeowner Mohamed al-Fayed. Fayed alleges
that his son and Diana were killed by security services on the
orders of Prince Philip. The Harrods storeowner believes Philip
ordered her killing because the royal family did not want the
mother of the future king to have a child with his son. He alleges
that Diana's body was embalmed to cover up evidence she was expecting
a baby. Fayed, who will appear before the inquest next Monday,
has rejected the findings of the Stevens report as "garbage"
and said: "There is a plan and plot against me."
The former police chief, clearly
angered as he gave evidence to the inquest, referred to the "extraordinary
accusation that I had been got at in terms of what the evidence
was, in terms of how the report was going to be put forward".
"It's quite outrageous," Stevens said, after heated
exchanges with lawyers. "That is what I find so hurtful,
that I could manipulate them (the detectives on his inquiry team)
into saying things and going down a criminal course of action."
Under British law, an inquest is needed to determine the cause
of death when someone dies unnaturally. The Diana inquest had
to be delayed until French and British police probes into the
crash were completed.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Calls for apologies
at Diana inquest
ITN - Thursday, February 14, 2008
The coroner in the Princess Diana inquest has demanded to know
why a security chief has not apologised.
John Macnamara, Mohamed al
Fayed's director of security in August 1997, wrongly branded former
bodyguard Trevor Rees, formerly known as Rees Jones, as a "mouthpiece"
of the security services, the court heard. The claim appears in
Mr Macnamara's sworn statement to Operation Paget, the investigation
into allegations that Diana and Dodi were murdered. Coroner Lord
Justice Scott Baker questioned Mr Macnamara about whether he had
said sorry to Mr Rees - who was the only survivor of the Paris
car crash.
The coroner said: "Have
you apologised to Mr Rees Jones, having made the very serious
statement 'in my opinion Rees Jones has willingly and in return
for payment been used as a mouthpiece by or on behalf of the security
services to discredit the mounting evidence that the crash was
not an accident'?" Mr Macnamara replied: "I have not
seen Mr Rees Jones." The coroner asked Mr Macnamara if he
had "taken any steps" to apologise. Mr Macnamara answered:
"No." When the coroner asked "why not", Mr
Macnamara responded by saying "that was my belief at the
time."
Mr Rees was Dodi Fayed's bodyguard
and the front seat passenger in the Mercedes which crashed in
Paris August 1997 killing Diana, her lover Dodi Fayed and driver
Henri Paul. He broke every bone in his face and suffered serious
chest injuries. Mr Rees was told while giving his evidence last
month of Mr al Fayed's claims that he was part of a murder cover-up
involving MI6. Mr Rees stated he was was "not part of a conspiracy
to suppress the truth" in direct contrast to Mr al Fayed's
controversial claims.
Meanwhile, Britain's former
top police officer has refuted "scurrilous allegations"
about his investigation into the Princess's death. Lord Stevens,
who headed the Metropolitan Police, launched Operation Paget in
2004 at the request of Michael Burgess, the Royal Coroner who
was overseeing the future Diana inquest at the time. The ex-Met
Police boss was specifically asked to investigate allegations
that Diana and her lover Dodi Fayed were murdered. Lord Stevens
produced the Paget report into the August 1997 crash, rejecting
the murder claims when it was published in December 2006.
On Thursday, Ian Burnett,
counsel to the inquest, told the jury that there had previously
been observations of discrepancies between what driver Mr Paul's
parents had been told and what had been in the final Paget report.
Lord Stevens replied: "I would say these are scurrilous allegations...I'm
looking for an apology for this in due course." Lord Stevens
said the allegations had included the notion that he had not done
his job properly and the "extraordinary allegation that I
had been got at in terms of how the evidence and the report was
going to be put forward".
He said: "It's quite
outrageous. I will take that on my behalf, but I will not have
it said about people who worked for me for four years who sometimes
can't defend themselves about these issues." The jury later
heard that Lord Stevens was "happy to state at this point,
in my view, based on all the evidence available to us, that Henri
Paul was not 'drunk as a pig' as referred to in some publications,
but more correctly described as under the influence of alcohol."
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Lord Fellowes has
given evidence at the Princess Diana inquest
Inquest told Palace swept for bugs
February 11, 2008
Lord Robert Fellows-Brother-In-Law to Princess
Diana
Buckingham Palace had to be
regularly swept for bugs by the security services, the Queen's
former private secretary Lord Fellowes revealed. Rooms used by
the monarch to conduct official business were checked for devices
at regular intervals, he told the Diana, Princess of Wales inquest.
In his evidence to the marathon High Court hearing Lord Fellowes
- who was Diana's brother-in-law - also dismissed Mohamed al Fayed's
claim that he had been in Paris on the night of the tragedy and
played a part in her "murder".
He told the court he was in
Norfolk listening to a talk by Sir John Mortimer, creator of Rumpole
of the Bailey, on the evening of August 30, 1997. Diana and her
lover Dodi Fayed died as a result of a car crash in Paris shortly
after midnight (French time) on August 31 1997. The jury were
also told that a call between the Princess and her friend James
Gilbey - in which he calls her "Squidgy" - was intercepted
and recorded while she was at Sandringham at Christmas 1989.
The conversation caused a
sensation when it was revealed in lurid detail in the press in
1992. A further call between the Prince of Wales and Camilla Parker
Bowles (now the Duchess of Cornwall) was also later taped and
publicised, later dubbed "Camilla-gate". The security
services denied any involvement in the interceptions but suspicions
that amateur radio enthusiasts were responsible were never proved.
The jury heard that Home Secretary Kenneth Clarke took the decision
in January 1993 not to have an investigation, fearing the news
would leak out. The inquest was adjourned until Wednesday when
former spy Richard Tomlinson will give evidence from the south
of France by video link.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Ex-Ambassador Denies
Diana Conspiracy
By Sky News SkyNews - Monday, February 11, 2008 Britain's ambassador
in Paris at the time of Diana's death has denied that he ordered
the embalming of her body on the instructions of MI5 to "conceal
the fact she was pregnant with Dodi Fayed's child".
Lord Jay, who was Sir Michael
Jay at the time of the car crash, told the inquest into their
deaths: "There is no truth in this allegation whatsoever."
He confirmed that a Secret Intelligence Service - better known
as MI6 - team was operating at the embassy at the time, as was
a representative of the Security Service MI5, but said he has
no reason to believe it had anything to do with the crash. Their
purpose was "to liaise with the French authorities on issues
such as counter-terrorism, anti-drugs work, security issues and
to share intelligence on matters of foreign policy".
He said the first he was even
aware of Diana's presence in Paris was when he was awoken with
news of the crash just over an hour afterwards.
Dodi's father, Harrods boss
Mohamed al Fayed, says the fatal crash in the Alma Tunnel was
staged as part of an MI6 murder plot to eliminate the couple to
prevent them marrying.
Meanwhile, the sole survivor
of the crash apparently feared he would be murdered if he ever
regained his memory. Mr al Fayed's housekeeper wept in court as
she recounted a conversation she said she had with bodyguard Trevor
Rees weeks after the August 1997 accident in Paris. Karen McKenzie
claimed she spoke to Mr Rees inside the Fayed family's Park Lane
residence in London while he was recuperating from his injuries.
She said that during a conversation as Mr Rees was waiting for
a lift