Posted on 01/27/2006 7:49:44 AM PST by churchillbuff
Diana Inquiry More Complex Than Expected By DAVID STRINGER Associated Press Writer
LONDON
An inquiry into the death of Princess Diana is "far more complex than any of us thought," the official leading the investigation said Friday without commenting on the conspiracy theories that persist nearly nine years after her death.
Lord Stevens, the former head of London's Metropolitan Police, acknowledged that some of the issues raised by Mohammed al Fayed _ whose son, Dodi, was killed in the 1997 car crash with Diana _ were "right to be raised." He did not elaborate.
Mohammed al Fayed, the owner of London's famous Harrods store, has claimed Diana and his son were killed by British intelligence officials and their deaths resulted from a plot instigated by Prince Philip, husband of Queen Elizabeth II and Diana's former father-in- law.
Lord Stevens, speaking in a recorded interview to Britain's GMTV Sunday Program, did not reveal which of al Fayed's concerns he believed were correct.
"It is right to say that some of the issues that have been raised by Mr. Fayed have been right to be raised," he told the program, to be broadcast Sunday. "We are pursing those. It is a far more complex inquiry than any of us thought."
A transcript of his comments were released Friday.
Lord Stevens said his team was examining the vehicle in which Dodi was traveling on Aug. 31, 1997 in Paris.
Diana, 36, her companion Dodi Fayed, 42, and their driver, Henri Paul, were killed when the car crashed into a pillar in an underpass. The only survivor, Diana's bodyguard, Trevor Rees-Jones, was badly hurt.
A French judge ruled in 1999 that the crash was an accident, and an investigation concluded that Paul had been drinking and was driving at high speed.
However, a British-led inquiry was ordered by the Royal Coroner, Michael Burgess, who raised concern about the number of conspiracy theories over the deaths.
"I think what people want is a thorough investigation going where the evidence takes us, and some of the answers to some of the questions that have been raised in national newspapers and in other parts of the world," said Stevens, who stepped down as London police chief in 2005.
"That is the job I have been asked to do and that is the job I'll do."
Stevens has spoken to Prince Charles about the death of his former wife as part of his inquiry.
With the prospect of a muslim becoming Diana's husband and stepfather to the future monarch, would it have been so unthinkable to take extreme measures?
''Off with her head''... that's what kings do.
They were rich, spoiled, drunken fools - not Royals and not on English territory. Sometimes an accident is just an accident.
Clear, correct, succinct and to the point.
Well said.
I sympathized only with Diana's family and, ESPECIALLY, her two sons.
I agree. She obviously was foolish to think that she could mess with a Muslim.
Call me tinfoil, but I think somebody put the kibosh on it.
Just because someone has "royal blood", does not make them better or worse. There is a real danger in worship of Diana, Bono or Bush for that matter. They are human beings, corrupt and curruptible.
Thank God its pounds and not dollars being wasted.
idle minds make silly assumptions, sez aye.
What are the odds that a drunk driver, being egged on by his bosses to "drive faster" would lose control of the car and crash it.
I mean really. How could that possibly happen?
Of course there has to be a conspiracy.
Meanwhile, back in the real world...
Makes perfect sense to me...some influential Muslim didn't want their blood lines mixed.
Diana's family isn't especially sympathetic, nor is her younger son (recall the SS uniform, the drunken scraps, the cheating on his A-levels). I do have sympathy for the future king. He is caught between some particularly ugly individuals in both families and seems decent despite the circumstances.
"I am sitting here at my desk today in October," she writes, "longing for someone to hug me and encourage me to keep strong and hold my head high. This particular phase in my life is the most dangerous _ X is planning 'an accident' in my car, brake failure and serious head injury in order to make the path clear for Charles to marry."
What a fool. There's no winning against conspiracy theorists like Al-Fayed. If Stevens doesn't come up with the "right" answer, he'll become one of "them", a co-conspirator.
Why not wait for an authoritative report before jumping to conclusions?
"An inquiry into the death of Princess Diana is "far more complex than any of us thought," the official leading the investigation said Friday without commenting on the conspiracy theories that persist nearly nine years after her death."
T'aint complex to me. She's dead, the throne is glad and that's, that.
It's kind of like finding out who killed Kennedy at this point. If we learn it was his mob connections then what? We sigh, say "oh that's too bad" and move on.
You mean a muslim who gave and continues to give money to terrorist organizations like Hamas?
One of the contributing factors is the French roads.
Even now when you see a new report, there are no guard rails in that tunnel. Cars pass those pillars just a couple of feet away. That accident is just waiting to happen again when a car collides with a pillar.
When you drive on the interstate you will note that every overpass has guard rails to guide a car away from colliding with a pillar. That is not to protect the pillar. It is to prevent a car from colliding head on to a pillar that will stop the car in milliseconds. It is the sudden stop that kills.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.