Posted on 08/29/2003 9:44:31 PM PDT by Free2Be49
DI INQUEST TO GO AHEAD
Aug 29 2003
EXCLUSIVE
By Justine Smith
AN inquest into the tragic car crash that killed Princess Diana is finally to be held in Britain, six years after she died.
Surrey coroner Michael Burgess will announce the date in the next few days.
The £1million inquest - into the death of Diana's lover Dodi Fayed - may at last give answers to how and why the princess died in the 1997 Paris car crash.
__________
THE date for an inquest in Britain which could finally solve the mystery of the car crash that killed Princess Diana six years ago will be revealed next week.
Diana, Dodi Fayed and chauffeur Henri Paul died when their Mercedes crashed in an underpass in Paris on August 31, 1997.
Diana's bodyguard, Trevor Rees Jones, survived but can remember nothing of the tragic accident that happened on the short journey from the Ritz hotel to Dodi's Paris flat.
Now, Prince William, 21, and brother Harry may finally find out how, and why, their mother died at the age of 36.
Surrey coroner Michael Burgess, who is also responsible for investigating suspicious royal deaths, will oversee the £1 million inquiry.
He is waiting to see if he can conduct a joint inquest on Diana and Dodi, who is buried in Surrey. Either way, he will lead the first official inquiry on British soil into the horrendous crash. A Surrey County Council spokesman said: "By early next week we should have a date. It is likely to start sooner rather than later.
"It may be that both inquests are held by Mr Burgess."
It is not yet known whether Buckingham Palace or the Government will appeal for the inquest to be held in secret, pleading that national security would otherwise be compromised.
They may find pressure for a public inquiry and findings too strong to resist. William and Harry are known to be eager for an inquest.
Dodi's father, Harrods boss Mohamed al Fayed, has campaigned for a public inquiry, claiming that the crash was no accident.
Despite huge public interest, the only investigation to date was conducted in secret by a French judge.
His 6,000-page report was never published. He concluded that Henri Paul was on a cocktail of drink and prescription drugs and lost control because he was speeding. But the report left dozens of crucial questions unanswered. Paul, who was rumoured to have been an informer for MI6, accelerated to almost 100 mph as he drove through the unlit tunnel beneath the Point D'Alma, pursued by paparazzi photographers on motorbikes.
The Mercedes swerved, possibly after hitting a white Fiat Uno, and smashed into a pillar. Neither the car nor the driver were ever found. Nine paparazzi photographers who chased the car into the tunnel were cleared of blame.
Key witnesses who will be re-interviewed include those who claimed to have seen a blinding light flashed at Henri Paul by the driver of a powerful motorbike, who was never traced. The wrecked Mercedes, stored in a Paris police compound, is likely to be shipped over to England and examined for the first time by experts here.
A spokesman for the Prince of Wales said yesterday: "This inquest is entirely a matter for the coroner. We will, of course, co-operate with him."
THE WITNESSES
TREVOR REES-JONES: The key to what happened may be locked in his mind. Princess Diana''s bodyguard - who was sitting in the front and was saved because he put on his seatbelt moments before the impact - says he remembers nothing of the crash.
THE DRIVER OF THE WHITE UNO: One driver of such a car was found dead inside the locked, burned wreckage of his vehicle. Another, who was Vietnamese, was questioned but released and never named.
FRANCOIS AND VALERIE LEVISTRE: Claimed to have seen a "big flash" coming out of the tunnel just before the crash.
BRENDA WELLS: British secretary who claimed she was prevented from taking the approach road by a motorbike.
GARY HUNTER: British lawyer, said he saw two vehicles race out of the tunnel, including a dark car. BRIAN ANDERSON: Said he saw a powerful motorbike swerve in front of Diana''s car.
FREDERIC MAILLEZ: The first medic on the scene, initially claimed the princess told him she was six weeks pregnant and stroked her belly. He later denied this and doctors who examined her rubbished such claims.
MIKE WALKER, TOM RICHARDSON and JOANNA LUZ: Claimed they saw someone jump out of the car just before it exploded.
THE QUESTIONS
WHY did French police fail to protect evidence at the scene? They cleared the road and opened the tunnel hours after the accident.
WHAT caused abnormally high levels of carbon monoxide - 20 per cent - in Henri Paul''s blood even though he died instantaneously?
WHY was Diana allowed to get in the car if Paul really was as drunk as his blood readings showed?
WERE Paul and one unnamed member of the chasing paparazzi employed by MI6, as alleged by ex-spy Richard Tomlinson?
WERE two senior MI6 officers in the British Embassy in Paris at the time?
WHY were the 17 government radar cameras situated between the Ritz and the tunnel switched off and out of film?
WHY were lights turned out in the tunnel minutes before, disabling the cameras?
IF Henri Paul was driving at 80-100mph, why was there no speed camera photo, even though other drivers were fined for speeding with camera technology on the road?
WHERE are the paparazzi photos seized by police at the scene showing a bright dazzling light, according to claims from Mohamed al Fayed?
Those questions were posed by one Justine Smith in The Mirror. It is the British authorities rehashing the accident at this late date.
I usually don't click on threads for which I have no interest. (But that's just me.)
This is a valid question, and you ignore what happened at the scene. Several issues open here. First is that the French way of conducting police matters is different than what most Americans are used to.
Second is that this was so 'big' that it would have likely taken the entire French Police force to keep bystanders out of the way, and from disturbing the scene, even for a few hours.
WHY was Diana allowed to get in the car if Paul really was as drunk as his blood readings showed?
You are right, and you are wrong. Diana might be considered to be the one in charge, but she was a guest of the Fayeds, and they were the ones in charge. Her 'driver', Henri Paul, was an employee of the Fayeds.
WERE Paul and one unnamed member of the chasing paparazzi employed by MI6, as alleged by ex-spy Richard Tomlinson?
Actually, the photographer's were not only called to blame, they were actually ARRESTED and put on TRIAL for actually doing what you CLAIM they did not do. The photographers were hounding the couple very intensely. Dodi decided to make a getaway from the rear, having the normal vehicle the couple used (and driver) act as the distraction. There were two photographers on motorcycles waiting by the rear door, (expecting some trick/or being informed of said trick), that followed Dodi and Diana at high speed. Henri Paul, hearing the photographers boast of how they were going to follow the couple wherever they went next, boasted, "you'll never catch us".
WERE two senior MI6 officers in the British Embassy in Paris at the time?
Yes, but that proves nothing either way.
WHY were the 17 government radar cameras situated between the Ritz and the tunnel switched off and out of film?
This question has not been answered and I believe, part of why the Fayeds still pursue this.
IF Henri Paul was driving at 80-100mph, why was there no speed camera photo, even though other drivers were fined for speeding with camera technology on the road?
Same response. The French had the photos, but refused to release them to the public or the Fayeds.
by Pikachu_Dad
This is insane. Digging up the bodies and rehashing this tragedy again.
The lady was drunk, not wearing a seatbelt, and in a speeding car. Give it a rest.
4 posted on 08/29/2003 10:35 PM PDT by Pikachu_Dad
An interesting thought, given that most of your information is incorrect, and that your original answers to the questions posed, showed only that you, master of the world, have decided the case, and no one is allowed to bring it up again. How wonderfully dictatorial of you.
We had been discussing this issue on another thread, and there was varied opinion going from the tinfoil to the sheeple.
I honestly think that if you are so sure of what happened, you should write to the Fayeds and tell them what idiots they are for pursuing this within the French Justice system. After all, they must be idiots, look how rich they are. You don't get rich by being smart.
: )
Could you show us where you got this bit of info?
I didn't realize there was such an abundance of suspicious royal deaths...
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