UK/ FILE: Inquest opens into Diana , Princess of Wales's death in car crash in Paris in 1997

Preliminary inquest hearings into the deaths of Diana, Princess of Wales and Dodi Fayed opens in London. Coroner will decide whether the two deaths should be heard separately or as one case and whether a jury should be present. The deaths of Britain's Princess Diana and her lover Dodi al Fayed in a 1997 car crash, one of the most thoroughly investigated events of recent times, comes in for more scrutiny on Monday (January 8), when an inquest reopens after a three-year break. The inquest has already attracted controversy after Elizabeth Butler-Sloss, who took over last year as the presiding judge, decided initial hearings should be conducted in secret. She changed her mind after strong criticism from Fayed's father Mohamed, owner of the London store Harrods and the leading advocate of murder conspiracy theories. Preliminary hearings will decide whether inquests into Diana and Fayed's deaths should be held together, whether a jury should be present and if so, who will take part. Nothing short of a full public inquiry is likely to satisfy Fayed. "We are looking for justice and I hope we can see the light on what is happening today," he told reporters as he arrived at the London court. Three weeks ago, a lengthy police investigation ruled that the crash was an accident and the two were not the victims of an elaborate murder plot. A two-year French investigation had already come to that conclusion. Diana, who was 36, Fayed and their chauffeur Henri Paul died when their Mercedes limousine smashed at high speed into a pillar in a Paris road tunnel. In the decade since the accident, a host of conspiracy theories flourished suggesting the couple were murdered because their relationship was embarrassing the British royal family. When the formal British inquest opened in 2004, it was immediately adjourned in dramatic fashion by the then royal coroner Michael Burgess to allow police to carry out a top-level investigation into the allegations. Under British law an inquest is needed to determine the cause of death when someone dies unnaturally. It cannot apportion blame but can rule that the death was "unnatural", due to violence or an accident.

ITN Source | January 8, 2007

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