Diana Murdered, Al Fayed Claims

BBC | February 18, 2008

Princess Diana and Dodi Al Fayed were murdered, Dodi's father Mohamed Al Fayed has told the inquest into their deaths in a car crash in Paris in 1997.

Harrods owner Mr. Al Fayed claimed former prime minister Tony Blair, MI5, MI6 and the British ambassador to France were all part of the conspiracy.

And he said Princess Diana "knew Prince Philip and Prince Charles were trying to get rid of her."

He also said Diana had told him she was pregnant, and the couple were engaged.

"I am the only person they told," he said.

'Crocodile wife'

Asked by Ian Burnett QC, counsel to the inquest, if he stood by his claim that Diana and Dodi were "murdered by the British security services on the orders of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh," Mr Al Fayed replied: "Yes."

He also pinpointed alleged security forces in the ambulance crew, the then British Ambassador to France Sir Michael Jay and the princess's brother-in-law Sir Robert Fellowes as all being involved in the plot.

And he said Prince Charles was complicit, hoping to make way so he could marry his "crocodile wife" Camilla Parker Bowles.

The Harrods boss also raised concerns about a note written by Diana's divorce lawyer, Lord Mishcon, after an October 1995 meeting. It outlined her fears there was a plot to kill her in a car crash.

The police agreed to hand it to the coroner only after Diana's former butler, Paul Burrell, produced a note from the princess making similar allegations in the Daily Mirror in October 2003. By that time, Sir John Stevens led the Met.

Mr. Al Fayed said this delay confirmed his "belief that my son and Princess Diana were murdered."

In his evidence, Mr. Al Fayed branded Prince Philip a "Nazi" and a "racist" and said: "It's time to send him back to Germany from where he comes."

"You want to know his original name - it ends with Frankenstein," he added.

Wooden box

Mr. Al Fayed read out a statement detailing his main concerns about the crash, and the points he felt the inquest should address.

Diana had told him she kept a wooden box and if anything happened to her, the contents should be made public, he said. But it had not been kept safe by Diana's butler Paul Burrell, or her sister, Lady Sarah McCorquodale.

He also said blood samples apparently taken from driver Henri Paul - who was also killed in the crash - did not belong to the Frenchman.

Mr. Al Fayed felt the murder was likely to have been carried out by photographer James Andanson, who has since died, on the orders of the security services.

Tape investigation

During his evidence, Mr. Al Fayed held up a copy of Monday's Sun newspaper, which claims Paul Burrell said he had not told the whole truth to the inquest.

He said of Mr Burrell: "He's been sitting here in the witness box talking about baloney things. It's important to bring him back."

Lord Justice Scott Baker later told the court: "This is something that's certainly being investigated."

The coroner said he had called for the Sun's tape and would want to know the circumstances under which it was obtained.

Richard Horwell QC for the Metropolitan Police Commissioner put it to Mr. Al Fayed that he had denied Diana "dignity in death" by raising the question of her pregnancy.

The barrister added that "witness after witness" had been asked about her method of contraception and her menstrual cycle, "and the evidence shows she could not have been pregnant."

Mr Al Fayed replied: "All the witnesses who have been saying this are part of the cover-up and have been told what to say."

The Harrods owner broke down when asked about the moment he was told Dodi was dead.

He said someone from security told him, but when asked if he remembered a call from Ritz hotel president Frank Klein, he answered: "It's difficult. I'd like to know why you are asking me things like that."

Mr Klein has told the inquest he telephoned Mr. Al Fayed to break the news and he replied: "This is not an accident."

Al-Fayed Calls Royal Family "Draculas"

Reuters | Tuesday, 19 February 2008

Harrods owner Mohamed al-Fayed has called the royals "this Dracula family" and accused them of wanting to get rid of Princess Diana at the inquest into the princess' and Dodi al-Fayed's death in a Paris road accident in 1997.

Al-Fayed, who alleges that Diana and his son Dodi were killed by British security service on the orders of the royal family, said: "Princess Diana told me she had proof her life was in danger."

In an emotional appearance at the inquest, al-Fayed accused Prince Philip of being a "Nazi" and a "racist."

"You want to know his original name -- it ends with Frankenstein," al-Fayed told the court.

"It is time to send him back to Germany," he added.

He said of Diana: "She suffered for 20 years from this Dracula family."

Al-Fayed, launching a string of allegations in court against the establishment, also said of Prince Charles: "He participated and I'm sure he knew what was going to happen."

He said this was "because he would like to get on and marry his Camilla and that is what happened. They cleared the decks. They finished her. They murdered her.

"It was slaughter, not murder," he told the court.

Al-Fayed said Diana had told him that "she knew Philip and Prince Charles wanted to get rid of her."

He went on: "Diana told me on the telephone she was pregnant. I am the only person they told. They told me they were engaged and would announce their engagement on Monday morning (three days after the crash)."

Diana, 36, Dodi, 42, and driver Henri Paul, a Fayed employee, were killed when their Mercedes limousine crashed in a road tunnel as they sped away from the Ritz Hotel in Paris with paparazzi photographers in hot pursuit.

French and British police investigations both concluded the deaths were tragic accidents caused by their speeding chauffeur who was found to be drunk. Both police probes rejected al-Fayed's conspiracy theories.

But al-Fayed insisted that French and British security and intelligence services had colluded in the killing of his son and Diana, and in a subsequent cover-up.

"French intelligence helped the British intelligence to execute their murder," he said.