No evidence of fould play in Princess Diana's death

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http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/03/31/europe/EU-GEN-Britain-Diana.php

No evidence of fould play in Princess Diana's death, coroner says
The Associated PressPublished: March 31, 2008

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LONDON: Prince Philip is off the hook. So are the agents of the Secret Intelligence Service.

There is no proof that they had anything to do with the death of Princess Diana and her boyfriend Dodi Fayed, a coroner said Monday.

Beginning his summing up in the wide-ranging and lengthy inquest, Lord Justice Scott Baker briskly shot down the theory promoted by Fayed's father, Mohamed Al Fayed, that the couple were victims of a murder plot.

Baker, who expects to finish his summation on Wednesday, left open the possibility that the couple's driver and the paparazzi who pursued them through Paris on Aug. 31, 1997 were reckless and caused the crash. The jury was also asked to consider that the deaths resulted simply from an accident.

"There is no evidence that the Duke of Edinburgh (Philip) ordered Diana's execution and there is no evidence that the Secret Intelligence Service or any other government agency organized it," Baker told the 11-member jury.

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Al Fayed was indignant as he left the Royal Courts of Justice.

"It is terrible," Al Fayed said. "It's all biased."

French and British police both concluded that the crash was an accident, and that Paul was drunk and speeding as the car carrying Fayed and Diana was pursued by paparazzi.

Baker told jurors to consider Paul's driving and the behavior of one or more of the paparazzi to decide "whether they were wholly indifferent to an obvious risk of death, or actually foresaw the risk of death but determined to run it nonetheless."

If so, he said, the jury should find that the couple were unlawfully killed through the grossly negligent driving of driver Henri Paul, the paparazzi, or both.

"The most potent feature of the way in which the Mercedes was driven was its speed," Baker said. Investigators concluded that Paul was driving in excess of 60 mph (95 kph), or double the speed limit, when the Mercedes slammed into a concrete pillar in the Alma underpass.

"Had it been traveling more slowly, the outcome might have been different. Had it hit the side of the pillar rather than the corner, it would probably have bounced off, and in a loss of control, nobody can predict which way it would go," Baker said.

Baker said the law obliged him to discard a possible verdict that the couple were unlawfully killed in a staged accident — that is, that they were victims of a murder plot.

"When a coroner leaves a verdict of unlawful killing, in this case on the basis of a staged accident, to a jury, he must identify to the jury the evidence on which they could be sure of such a conclusion. But in this case sufficient evidence simply does not exist," Baker said.

"Speculation, surmise and belief are one thing; evidence is another."

However, Baker said there was some evidence — "albeit limited and of doubtful quality" — that the crash was staged, which he left for the jury to consider in choosing among the five possible verdicts.

He did not immediately explain why, having dismissed the possibility of an establishment murder plot, he considered such evidence to have any relevance.

Baker said the inquest, which began in October, had heard lies, half-truths, speculation and rumors. He identified Diana's butler, Paul Burrell, as one of the liars — either in court or elsewhere.

He also raised sharp questions about the truthfulness of Al Fayed and his spokesman, Michael Cole — notably on the issues of whether Diana was pregnant and intended to marry Dodi Fayed.

"The only evidence that Diana was pregnant comes from the mouth of Mohamed Al Fayed," said Baker, referring to Al Fayed's claim that Diana told him so just hours before the crash.

"On the other hand there is a great deal of evidence that she was not pregnant, although you may think it cannot be proved with absolute scientific certainty that she was not, " Baker told the jury.

"What we have heard about engagement has been almost entirely speculation," Baker said, except for Fayed's claim that his son and Diana told him so. A number of Diana's friends disputed that idea.

Baker again expressed the hope that the inquest would bring an end to speculation.

"The very fact that these allegations have been circulating during the last 10 years, and, I would add, not only coming from Mohamed Al Fayed, makes it important to put matters to rest one way or the other, once and for all," he said.