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FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2009
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Di's Driver Wasn't Drunk: Parents

Mother, father defend Paul at London inquest

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(Newser) – Princess Diana's French driver wasn't drunk on the night of the crash that took both their lives, Henri Paul's parents told the London inquest today. Police concluded that Paul was intoxicated based on blood samples taken after he died in the accident. But experts have questioned the origin of the samples—and Paul's parents said authorities denied their request for independent tests.

Paul was rumored to be an alcoholic. But the aging couple, speaking to the jury by video link from Paris, said they had never seen their son under the influence, Reuters reports. The Pauls weren't notified when French police searched his Paris home shortly after the crash, either. "We have been looking for the truth for a long time," they said through an interpreter.

Diana, Princess of Wales, smiles at the United Cerebral Palsy's annual dinner at the New York Hilton in this Dec. 11, 1995 file photo. Rodney Turner, a car dealer and long-standing friend of Diana's family, said Monday, Jan. 7, 2008, that Princess Diana had described her relationship with Dodi Fayed...
Diana, Princess of Wales, smiles at the United Cerebral Palsy's annual dinner at the New York Hilton in this Dec. 11, 1995 file photo. Rodney Turner, a car dealer and long-standing friend of Diana's...   (Associated Press)
In this image made available Tuesday Oct. 2, 2007, from evidence presented at the inquest into the death of Diana Princes of Wales and Dodi Al Fayed. The head of Diana Princess of Wales, in the rear seat, her bodyguard Trevor Rees left, and driver Henri Paul are seen shortly...
In this image made available Tuesday Oct. 2, 2007, from evidence presented at the inquest into the death of Diana Princes of Wales and Dodi Al Fayed. The head of Diana Princess of Wales, in the rear...   (Associated Press)
Diana, Princess of Wales, and her companion Dodi Fayed, walk on a pontoon in the French Riviera resort of St Tropez in this Aug. 22, 1997, file photo. Rodney Turner, a car dealer and long-standing friend of Diana's family,said Monday, Jan. 7, 2008, that Princess Diana had described her...
Diana, Princess of Wales, and her companion Dodi Fayed, walk on a pontoon in the French Riviera resort of St Tropez in this Aug. 22, 1997, file photo. Rodney Turner, a car dealer and long-standing friend...   (Associated Press)
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