Still at it a decade later

The interminable inquest (the inquest, which is being overseen by coroner Lord Justice Scott Baker, began on 2 October 2007) into the death of Princess Diana grinds on. Dodi Fayed's father refuses to believe that his son killed her by driving badly; surely someone, somewhere, can be made to take the blame: "For Mr Al Fayed, it's simple. Princess Diana and his son were murdered because they were going to get married and Diana was pregnant. Prince Charles wanted to 'get on and marry his Camilla', and princes Charles and Philip could not accept Dodi having 'anything to do with the future king', he said. And according to Mr Al Fayed, everyone was in on the conspiracy." His conspiracy theories are well known, but never before has Mr Al Fayed had such an opportunity to air them at such great length, and never before have they been pulled apart by top lawyers. At the start, Mr Burnett, counsel for the coroner, called him "a great buccaneering businessman", but during cross-examination Mr Al Fayed's often incoherent and at times amusing ramblings raised chuckles. As the list of the co-conspirators expanded to include then-prime minister Tony Blair, the French ambulance service, and the British Ambassador in Paris, the laughs from the public gallery grew longer and louder. The biggest laugh came when Mr Al Fayed was quizzed about the photographer James Andanson, who he claimed was a trained MI6 assassin and the driver of the mystery Fiat Uno which allegedly caused the fatal crash.
Yesterday, Lord Baker began his summing up. He told the inquest jury that there is "no evidence" that the Duke of Edinburgh ordered Princess Diana's death or that it was organised by MI6.

Rico says Mister al Fayed should accept the fact that his whacked-out son crashed the car and killed himself and Diana. Well, to be precise, the poor crash-management protocols of the French ambulance service killed Diana; she'd have lived, in all probability, if the crash had happened in the UK or the US.