London Judge set to decide witnesses for Diana inquest

LONDON – The judge investigating Princess Diana’s death looked set yesterday to decide who would be witnesses at the inquest, raising the extraordinary possibility of the British royal family being summoned to the stand.

Mohamed al Fayed, whose son Dodi died alongside Diana in a Paris car crash 10 years ago, wants to call Diana’s ex-husband Prince Charles and her ex-father-in-law the Duke of Edinburgh as witnesses. The multimillionaire owner of the luxury Harrods department store, who is convinced the couple were murdered, won a major legal challenge last week when London’s High Court ruled that the inquest should be heard before a jury.A three-year British police investigation ruled at the end of last year that the crash was an accident and not part of an elaborate murder plot as Fayed claims.The British inquiry backed a French probe which concluded that the driver, a Fayed employee, was to blame because he was drunk, under the influence of anti-depressants and driving too fast.Fayed has rejected both British and French findings.At Monday’s pre-inquest hearing, coroner Elizabeth Butler-Sloss will be deciding the venue for the inquest, how the jury is picked and what witnesses will be called.Lawyers for the royal family are expected to resist strongly any calls for Charles and his father to be called.If they do have to take the stand at the inquest due to start in May, that could rival the media frenzy that surrounded the trials in the United States of Michael Jackson and O J Simpson.Fayed said in a statement after last week’s ruling, “The jury must now be allowed to hear the entirety of the evidence but I fear there will be attempts to keep it from them.If so, that will be yet another battle I will have to fight.”But he could still have his day in court creating political dynamite after the London High court ruling.Appeal court judge Janet Smith, handing out the ruling, said: “Mr Al Fayed has alleged that the Duke of Edinburgh and the Security Services conspired to kill the princess and Dodi Al Fayed.””The allegation must be inquired into,” she said.Diana, 36, Dodi, 42, and their chauffeur Henri Paul were killed when their Mercedes limousine smashed at high speed into a pillar in a Paris road tunnel as they sped away from the Ritz Hotel, pursued by paparazzi on motorbikes.Diana’s children, Princes William and Harry had expressed the hope that the long-awaited inquest would be “open, fair and transparent” and completed as fast as possible.Under British law an inquest is needed to formally determine the cause of death when someone dies unnaturally.Nampa-ReutersThe multimillionaire owner of the luxury Harrods department store, who is convinced the couple were murdered, won a major legal challenge last week when London’s High Court ruled that the inquest should be heard before a jury.A three-year British police investigation ruled at the end of last year that the crash was an accident and not part of an elaborate murder plot as Fayed claims.The British inquiry backed a French probe which concluded that the driver, a Fayed employee, was to blame because he was drunk, under the influence of anti-depressants and driving too fast.Fayed has rejected both British and French findings.At Monday’s pre-inquest hearing, coroner Elizabeth Butler-Sloss will be deciding the venue for the inquest, how the jury is picked and what witnesses will be called.Lawyers for the royal family are expected to resist strongly any calls for Charles and his father to be called.If they do have to take the stand at the inquest due to start in May, that could rival the media frenzy that surrounded the trials in the United States of Michael Jackson and O J Simpson.Fayed said in a statement after last week’s ruling, “The jury must now be allowed to hear the entirety of the evidence but I fear there will be attempts to keep it from them.If so, that will be yet another battle I will have to fight.”But he could still have his day in court creating political dynamite after the London High court ruling.Appeal court judge Janet Smith, handing out the ruling, said: “Mr Al Fayed has alleged that the Duke of Edinburgh and the Security Services conspired to kill the princess and Dodi Al Fayed.””The allegation must be inquired into,” she said.Diana, 36, Dodi, 42, and their chauffeur Henri Paul were killed when their Mercedes limousine smashed at high speed into a pillar in a Paris road tunnel as they sped away from the Ritz Hotel, pursued by paparazzi on motorbikes.Diana’s children, Princes William and Harry had expressed the hope that the long-awaited inquest would be “open, fair and transparent” and completed as fast as possible.Under British law an inquest is needed to formally determine the cause of death when someone dies unnaturally.Nampa-Reuters