Inquest: Did Royal Family Kill Diana?

International Law

Posted Oct 2, 2007, 01:07 pm CST
By Martha Neil

After fighting a lengthy legal battle to force a British inquest into the death a decade ago of Princess Diana in a Paris car crash, Harrods department store magnate Mohammed al-Fayed is going to have his day in court. An inquest began today in London's High Court with the judge's summary of al-Fayed's claims that she and his son, Dodi al-Fayed, 42, were killed in a plot set up by the British royal family.

Al-Fayed says Diana, 36, was pregnant with his son's child, and the two planned to marry, reports Reuters. Because the British royal family couldn't bear the idea that she would marry a Muslim of Egyptian descent, al-Fayed contends in a written witness statement, a plot to have her killed in an apparent car crash was set up by Prince Philip, the husband of Queen Elizabeth.

Previous French and British investigations concluded that the deaths of the couple and their chauffeur were an accident. The chauffeur reportedly was speeding and had been drinking before he lost control of the vehicle and crashed.

Said Lord Justice Scott Baker to the jury: "You will have to listen carefully to the witnesses you hear to see whether there is any evidence to support this assertion."

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