A French magistrate has denied she authorised the embalming of Princess Diana’s body.
Popular on LondonNet
Maud Morel Coujard, who was a deputy public prosecutor in Paris in 1997, told the inquest into Diana’s death that she was initially not told of the decision.
She also denied claims that anyone from the British Embassy in Paris had discussed embalming with her.
Mohamed Al Fayed, whose son Dodi Fayed died with Diana in the Paris car crash on 31 August, 1997, has alleged the British ambassador ordered the embalming to cover up the princess’ pregnancy.
When asked by lawyer Ian Burnett if there was any truth in Al Fayed’s claims, Coujard replied: “No.”
The jury at the High Court also heard that embalming was undertaken to prevent the rapid decay of the body in the warm weather.
Jean Monceau, an embalmer who was called to the Pitie-Salpetriere Hospital, said Diana’s body was not in a fit state to be seen by her ex-husband Prince Charles and French President Francois Mitterrand, who were due at the hospital to pay their respects.
Monceau said he told the then British consul-general Keith Moss the body should be embalmed.
Monceau added to the court: “He told me to do what was necessary, and it was very obvious to me that it was not possible to present the body in the state that it was.”
At the time, Monceau said he believed embalming was necessary for any body being returned to Britain, but later realised that wasn’t the case.
French law requires permission from officials, either the mayor or the prefect of police, and from the family, before embalming can proceed and questions have been raised as to whether these requirements were all met in
Diana’s case.
Richard Horwell, a lawyer for the Metropolitan Police, asked Monceau whether he believed he did anything illegal or wrong at the time.
Monceau quipped: “Yes, because otherwise you would not ask me all these questions.”
He then added: “If I had known at the time that it would lead to such investigations, to my being questioned so many times, I would have waited until the next Monday to get the necessary written permissions.”
