Speculation rife in advance of Diana death report
With the publication of Lord Stevens’ report into the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, out this week, speculation has been rife about what revelations it may contain.
Diana, 36, and Dodi Fayed, 42, were killed along with chauffeur Henri Paul when their Mercedes crashed in the Pont d’Alma tunnel in Paris in August 31, 1997.
In the years since the British princess died conspiracy theories about what really happened that night have circulated incessantly.
Mr Fayed’s father, Harrods boss Mohammed Al Fayed, is among those who have claimed Diana and her lover were killed in an MI5 plot.
But former Met Police chief Lord Stevens, who was asked to undertake the high-profile inquiry when the inquest into Diana’s death opened and adjourned in January 2004, is expected to conclude it was an accident.
The couple had been pursued by paparazzi photographers after leaving the Ritz Hotel for Mr Fayed’s apartment.
A two-year investigation in France blamed Mr Paul for losing control because he was high on drink and prescription drugs and was driving too fast.
One of the conspiracy theories suggested the blood samples from the chauffeur were switched, a claim understood to have been disproved by new DNA tests.
Other revelations rumoured to be in Lord Stevens’ report include allegations the US secret service was bugging the Princess’s telephone conversations in the hours before she died and confirmation she was not pregnant.
His inquiry, estimated to have cost as much as £4 million, is said to bring together some 20,000 documents and 1,500 witness statements.
Metropolitan Police officers used cutting edge computer technology to reconstruct the crash scene and examined the Mercedes in painstaking detail.
Dame Elizabeth Butler-Sloss, who is now in charge of Diana’s inquest, is due to resume the hearings in early 2007 – the year which marks the 10th anniversary of Diana’s death.
Earlier this month she backed down over plans to hold the preliminary hearings in private after Mr Al Fayed threatened legal action over the matter.
