FRANCE: Jury in Diana inquest visits Ritz Hotel in Paris

British jurors on the second day of their inquest into the deaths of Princess Diana and her lover Dodi al-Fayed are taken to the Ritz Hotel in Paris to see for themselves where the Princess spent the final hours of her life. British jurors visited the Ritz Hotel on Tuesday (October 9) as part of the ongoing inquest into the deaths of Princess Diana and her lover Dodi al-Fayed ten years ago. The Ritz hotel is one of several sites being viewed by the 11-strong jury, who were accompanied by Coroner Lord Justice Scott Baker. Diana and Dodi died shortly after midnight on Aug. 31, 1997, when their driver lost control of their car, hitting the 13th pillar in the underpass and spinning across the carriageway. It was at the Ritz hotel that the couple spent their final evening together. As part of Tuesday's (October 9) schedule, the group is also expected to visit the Pitie-Salpetriere hospital where Diana died. Under British law, an inquest is needed to determine the cause of death when someone dies unnaturally and the trip was planned to give the group a clear idea of all the relevant locations. The jurors hearing the inquest arrived in Paris on Monday (October 8) for a two-day extraordinary session to retrace the last movements of the ill-fated couple -- from the Ritz Hotel to the crash scene in the Alma underpass. On Monday (October 8), police closed off traffic to the Alma tunnel to allow the jurors and coroner to walk down the road and see for themselves the central reservation where Diana's Mercedes limousine crashed. Dodi's father Mohamed al-Fayed says the couple were killed by British security services acting on the orders of Queen Elizabeth's husband, Diana's former father-in-law. Investigations by French and British police concluded the deaths were an accident caused by a speeding chauffeur, who was found to be drunk and who also died in the crash.

ITN Source | October 9, 2007

Tags:. .security. .scene. .hearing. .expected. .road