It’s been ten years since the accident that killed Princess Diana in Paris.
And ever since then, Mohamed Al-Fayed, The Harrods tycoon and the father of Dodi Al-Fayed, has been trying to prove somehow that the death was not an accident but a murder, the result of a vast conspiracy involving lots of personalities, among them the ex-Prime Minister of U.K, Tony Blair, the secret services of Britain and France, the CIA, Prince Charles and Prince Philip and even Diana’s sister.
He is due to spend at least two days giving evidence to the inquest into the deaths of Diana and Dodi.
He listed as involved in the cover-up: butler Paul Burrell, every member of the Royal Family (although he recanted eventually the participation of the Queen), two Scotland Yard Commissioners, leading medical experts in London and Paris including two eminent professors Dominique Lecomte and Gilbert Pepin, newspaper editors, judges and the list goes on.
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.
According to Mr. Fayed, Diana was scared for her life, claiming that she knew that Prince Philip and Prince Charles were trying to get rid of her.
Also, she allegedly mentioned a mystery box, said to contain important information and left in butler’s hands in case something would happen to the Princess.
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.
His allegations have been rebutted by hard evidence already heard by the inquest jury.
On the claim that Diana and Dodi were murdered because she wanted to marry him, a Muslim, the evidence showed that Diana had already had a serious two-year relationship with Muslim surgeon Hasnat Khanwith and that did not kill her or him.
On the claim that she was pregnant, just days after the crash even Fayed’s loyal PR Michael Cole officially dismissed pregnancy claims as untrue and the chambermaid on the Fayed yacht Jonikal bore witness to Diana’s contraceptive pills.
On the claim that bodyguard Trevor Rees Jones worked for MI6, even Fayed’s lawyer Michael Mansfield QC admits there is no evidence that Mr. Rees, who was injured in the crash, has ever been connected to the intelligence services.
Now, the ex-butler Paul Burrell is in hiding, following allegations that he had lied in court.
Apparently there is a tape with the former royal butler allegedly confessing that he lied under oath.
Burrell is recording saying that he held back the facts and threw in “a couple of red herrings” as he did not want to “give away secrets”.
Mr. Fayed now has to fight all the people saying 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 is desperate to prove that there was a motive to murder Princess Diana. Because without a motive, there is no murder.
Mr. Fayed will spend another few days in the witness stand trying to bring proof to his allegations. After that the jury will be send out for deliberations, which may take another five weeks.
