2008 Woodie Awards
British inquest into Diana's death resumes with princes' plea for quick conclusion
Jennifer Quinn, Associated Press
Issue date: 1/10/07 Section: News
LONDON (AP) - The British inquest into Princess Diana's death in a 1997 car crash in Paris resumed Monday with a plea from her sons that conclusions be reached quickly.
"It is their desire that the inquest should not only be open, fair and transparent but that it should move swiftly to a conclusion," according to a letter from Jamie Lowther-Pinkerton, private secretary to the princes, which was read at the opening session.
Baroness Elizabeth Butler-Sloss, a retired senior judge and member of the House of Lords, presided at the preliminary hearings at the Royal Courts of Justice, which concentrated on procedural issues. She ruled that all sessions would be open to the public, and that the deaths of Diana and her friend Dodi Fayed would be examined together.
Queen Elizabeth II sided with Fayed's father, Mohamed al Fayed, in urging that a jury if called should be made up of members of the general public. Because Diana was buried as a royal, normally an inquest jury would be made up of royal household members.
Fayed has accused the queen's husband, Prince Philip, of orchestrating a plot to murder Diana and Fayed. A police inquiry published last year concluded that there was no murder conspiracy, and that the deaths were accidental.
In a letter to the court, the queen's lawyer, Sir John Nutting, said a royal jury should be avoided "to avoid any appearance of bias in consideration of the issues which such an inquest would be bound to consider." Butler-Sloss concurred.
"I think that's one decision I can make today," Butler-Sloss said. "I think it entirely inappropriate for me to ask for a jury from the royal household."
She reserved a decision, however, on whether to have a jury or to hear the case by herself.
The full inquest, which was swiftly adjourned in 2004 shortly after it began, is expected to take place later this year, nearly a decade after the couple were killed in a car crash in a Paris tunnel. The inquest was put off until the French investigations were completed.
"It is their desire that the inquest should not only be open, fair and transparent but that it should move swiftly to a conclusion," according to a letter from Jamie Lowther-Pinkerton, private secretary to the princes, which was read at the opening session.
Baroness Elizabeth Butler-Sloss, a retired senior judge and member of the House of Lords, presided at the preliminary hearings at the Royal Courts of Justice, which concentrated on procedural issues. She ruled that all sessions would be open to the public, and that the deaths of Diana and her friend Dodi Fayed would be examined together.
Queen Elizabeth II sided with Fayed's father, Mohamed al Fayed, in urging that a jury if called should be made up of members of the general public. Because Diana was buried as a royal, normally an inquest jury would be made up of royal household members.
Fayed has accused the queen's husband, Prince Philip, of orchestrating a plot to murder Diana and Fayed. A police inquiry published last year concluded that there was no murder conspiracy, and that the deaths were accidental.
In a letter to the court, the queen's lawyer, Sir John Nutting, said a royal jury should be avoided "to avoid any appearance of bias in consideration of the issues which such an inquest would be bound to consider." Butler-Sloss concurred.
"I think that's one decision I can make today," Butler-Sloss said. "I think it entirely inappropriate for me to ask for a jury from the royal household."
She reserved a decision, however, on whether to have a jury or to hear the case by herself.
The full inquest, which was swiftly adjourned in 2004 shortly after it began, is expected to take place later this year, nearly a decade after the couple were killed in a car crash in a Paris tunnel. The inquest was put off until the French investigations were completed.
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