In This Article
Subscribe to International Updates
Princess Diana Killed 'Unlawfully,' Inquest Finds
by
findingDulcinea Staff
An inquest has determined that Princess Diana and Dodi al-Fayed were "unlawfully killed" in 1997 owing to the “gross negligence” of driver Henri Paul and the paparazzi.
30-Second Summary
The highly publicized inquest took six months, after which a jury concluded that Paul’s drunk driving contributed to Fayed and Diana’s deaths, as did the fact that neither one was wearing a seatbelt, reports the BBC.
British newspapers The Daily Mail and The Daily Express are running thorough articles about the new verdict, including the reaction of Dodi Fayed’s father, Mohamed al-Fayed, who has long contended that his son and Diana were murdered in a plot orchestrated by Prince Philip.
“Mohamed al-Fayed stormed from the court with a face of thunder as soon as the brief hearing ended,” reports The Daily Mail.
When asked for his response to the verdict, he allegedly shrugged his shoulders and said, “The most important thing is it is murder.”
The 79-year-old businessman, who owns the London department store Harrods, had told the court during the inquest that members of the U.S., British and French intelligence agencies were coconspirators in the murder, but investigations by French and British authorities found no indication of foul play.
British newspapers The Daily Mail and The Daily Express are running thorough articles about the new verdict, including the reaction of Dodi Fayed’s father, Mohamed al-Fayed, who has long contended that his son and Diana were murdered in a plot orchestrated by Prince Philip.
“Mohamed al-Fayed stormed from the court with a face of thunder as soon as the brief hearing ended,” reports The Daily Mail.
When asked for his response to the verdict, he allegedly shrugged his shoulders and said, “The most important thing is it is murder.”
The 79-year-old businessman, who owns the London department store Harrods, had told the court during the inquest that members of the U.S., British and French intelligence agencies were coconspirators in the murder, but investigations by French and British authorities found no indication of foul play.
Headline Links: ‘Princess Diana Unlawfully Killed’
Diana, Dodi and Paul were all killed when Paul crashed a hired car into a pillar in the Alma underpass in Paris on Aug. 31, 1997. The jury returned “joint verdicts of unlawful killing through grossly negligent driving—or gross negligence manslaughter” in the incident.
Source: The BBC
The jury, who singled out Paul’s drunk driving as the main cause of the August 1997 crash, were dismissed following the end of the six-month trial and told that they would never have to serve on a jury again.
Source: The Daily Express
Reaction: Mohamed al-Fayed
Mohamed al-Fayed released a statement in response to the verdict, which is included in the Daily Mail story. "I'm not the only person who says they were murdered. Diana predicted she would be murdered and how it would happen. So I am disappointed. The verdicts will come as a blow to the many millions of people around the world who supported my struggle. I thank them,” he says.
Source: The Daily Mail
Following the verdict, al-Fayed “hinted that he will continue to use the courts in his doomed attempts to prove his discredited claims, which have already cost the taxpayer an estimated £10 million by dragging out the inquest process for more than 10 years,” writes The Daily Telegraph.
Source: The Daily Telegraph
Related Topics: Inquest specifics
On April 2, the judge handed the case over to the jury, signaling a conclusion to the inquest, which took six months, included 242 witnesses and cost nearly $6 million. Under British law, any time a suspicious death occurs in a foreign country there must be an inquest, and in the case of Diana’s death, the inquest took so long because there were several criminal charges and conspiracy theories, including many instigated by Mohamed Al-Fayed.
Watch the story on CBS.
Watch the story on CBS.
The Guardian provides a slideshow of previously unreleased pictures from the night of Princess Diana’s death that were shown to the inquest jury.
Source: The Guardian
Background: The conspiracy theory
According to Mohamed al-Fayed, Princess Diana and Dodi al-Fayed were killed by a vast network of conspirators, including British, French and American special intelligence agencies. He called Queen Elizabeth’s husband, Prince Philip, a “Nazi” and said he directed the assassination. Diana and Dodi were killed so that Prince Charles could marry Camilla, and because Prince Philip allegedly wouldn’t tolerate Diana's carrying a Muslim’s child.
Source: The International Herald Tribune
Following al-Fayed’s statement about a conspiracy theory, many members of the British press expressed disapproval at his decision to institute legal proceedings. In January, Max Hastings of The Guardian wrote, “Every police officer, French and British, who has examined the case since 1997 has reported that the princess’s death was the result of a tragic accident.” He went on to argue that Mohamed al-Fayed’s theories are “unsupported by any plausible evidence, and this was obvious at the start of the inquest.”
Source: The Guardian
Reference: Diana, Princess of Wales
The BBC features a biography of Diana on its Web site that includes the nation’s grief and the controversy that followed her death: “The general public awoke to the news of Diana's death with a mixture of shock and disbelief. A wave of public condemnation for the paparazzi who had hounded her for the past 16 years turned into baying for royal blood as the royal family stayed cloistered away at Balmoral in Scotland where they were having their summer holiday.”
Source: The BBC
Most Recent Beyond The Headlines
© 2012 Dulcinea Media, Inc.
