Turbulent day for Diana inquest
LONDON (AP) - February 18, 2008 Al Fayed referred to a lawyer's note of a conversation with
Diana in 1995, which was handed to police after her death but not
disclosed for six years.
"She said that she is going to die or be killed in a car crash
and that is what happened to her and my son," Al Fayed testified
at a coroner's inquest into the couple's deaths.
He accused Diana's sister Sarah McQuorquodale; Diana's
brother-in-law Robert Fellowes; two former chiefs of London police;
driver Henri Paul; her attorney, the late Lord Mischon; two French
toxicologists, members of the French medical service; and three
bodyguards once employed by Al Fayed as being part of the alleged
murder plot and cover-up.
He accused Prince Philip, who allegedly directed the plot, of
being a racist and a Nazi who could not accept Diana's marriage to
an Arab Muslim.
"There are a very large number of people on this account,"
observed the coroner, Lord Justice Scott Baker.
Al Fayed's time in the witness box allows him the most public
airing yet for his long-held theories of a murder plot involving
the British secret service and Philip, husband of Queen Elizabeth
II.
Lengthy investigations by French and British police concluded
that the Aug. 31, 1997 crash was an accident, and that driver Henri
Paul was drunk and speeding.
Although offering little proof for his allegations, Al Fayed was
confident that he had made his case.
"I am sure by now, the jury understands," Al Fayed said. "And
they can say they don't need any more. They can give their verdict
after hearing my witness."
Al Fayed charged that the French investigating magistrate, Herve
Stephan, was a "stooge" of the intelligence services.
"Princess Diana told me that she had proof that her life was in
danger and that she kept it in a wooden box," Al Fayed said.
If anything happened to her, Al Fayed said, he was told that "I
must make sure that the contents of this box were made public."
The box allegedly contained letters from Prince Philip to Diana.
The letters are now missing.
Al Fayed read a lengthy statement laying out his theory of a
huge plot directed at murdering the couple. He disputed evidence
that Paul, who also died in the crash, was drunk, and alleged the
driver was 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.
He said Diana was pregnant, and that she and Dodi planned to
announce their engagement.
"Diana told me on the telephone that she was pregnant," he
said. "I was the only person that they (Dodi and Diana) told."
Al Fayed is the only witness to claim that Diana was pregnant,
while several have asserted that she was taking birth control pills
and had had her period shortly before she died.
Lashing out at Prince Philip, Al Fayed said he should go "back
to Germany" - a reference to the prince's German ancestors. "You
want to know his original name? It ends with Frankenstein," he
added.
Ian Burnett, a lawyer for the coroner, asked al Fayed if his
murder conspiracy allegations "stem from your belief that Prince
Philip is not only a racist but a Nazi as well."
Al Fayed responded, "Absolutely."
Al Fayed also asserted that Prince Charles was part of the
alleged murder plot, hoping to clear the decks so he could marry
Camilla Parker Bowles or, as Al Fayed put it, "his crocodile
wife."
Also Monday, Coroner Scott Baker said that he was seeking a copy
of a video which was the basis for a report in The Sun newspaper
that quoted Diana's former butler Paul Burrell as saying that he
had not told the whole truth during his three days of testimony to
the inquest.
Baker refused to let Al Fayed read anything from that report to
the jury.
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On the Net:
Inquest, http://www.scottbaker-inquests.gov.uk
Mohamed Al Fayed, http://www.alfayed.com