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Diana Coroner Dismisses Conspiracy

Duke of Edinburgh, British intelligence not to blame for Princess' death

By Caroline Zimmerman,  Newser User

Posted Mar 31, 2008 10:48 AM CDT
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(Newser) – Diana wasn't the victim of a murder plot, her coroner told an inquest jury today after six months of testimony. Lord Justice Scott Baker told jurors to decide either that the Princess and Dodi died in an accident, or as result of gross negligence—her driver's or the paparazzi's. But the Duke of Edinburgh and MI6 are in the clear, the Guardian reports.

Dodi's father Mohamed al Fayed, who has long claimed a conspiracy involving the British secret service, called for the inquest, but most of his claims "are not being pursued because there is not a shred of evidence to support them," Baker said. Even his lawyers didn't push Fayed's most controversial line—that Diana was embalmed by officials in France to hide a pregnancy. "It's all biased," Fayed said.

Mohamed Al Fayed, the father of Dodi Fayed, leaves the High Court in London as the summation into the inquest of the death of Diana and her boyfriend Dodi Fayed begins, Monday, March 31, 2008.
Mohamed Al Fayed, the father of Dodi Fayed, leaves the High Court in London as the summation into the inquest of the death of Diana and her boyfriend Dodi Fayed begins, Monday, March 31, 2008.   (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)
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)
Handout photo by Jacques Langevin which was made available Thursday Oct. 11 2007, from evidence presented at the inquest being held in London, into the death of Diana.
Handout photo by Jacques Langevin which was made available Thursday Oct. 11 2007, from evidence presented at the inquest being held in London, into the death of Diana.   (Associated Press)
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The staggering cost of the Diana inquest
Press Association

A timeline of Diana's death and inquest
Reuters

More on the key issues for the jury to consider
Telegraph (UK)

 
Princess Diana • jury • MI6 • Diana inquest • British royals • Princess of Wales • coroner's report • Mohamed al Fayed • Dodi al Fayed • Duke of Edinburgh • Scott Baker

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