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British jurors trace Diana's steps
By ANGELA DOLAND, Associated Press Writer Tue Oct 9, 2:40 PM ET
PARIS - The scenes were preserved in the grainy footage of security cameras: Princess Diana and her lover emerging from the whirl of a hotel's revolving doors, exchanging smiles in a cramped elevator, embracing in a corridor as awaited their final journey.
Eleven British jurors on Tuesday they retraced Diana and Dodi Fayed's final steps through Paris' Ritz Hotel, private moments recorded a decade ago and later broadcast around the world. The jurors were in Paris for two days to visit the Ritz, the tunnel where the couple's car crashed, killing them both, and other points important to an inquest.
French authorities and Britain's Metropolitan Police have agreed that chauffeur Henri Paul was drunk and speeding, and that the Aug. 31, 1997, crash was an accident — not a murder plot, as claimed by Fayed's father, Egyptian-born billionaire Mohamed al Fayed.
Those exhaustive investigations delayed an inquest until now. By British law, inquests are held when someone dies unexpectedly, violently or of unknown causes.
Lord Justice Scott Baker led jurors up the red-carpeted stairs of the hotel and into its wood-paneled bar, where security cameras had spotted the lovers' driver, who also died in the crash. Throughout the hotel, Baker pointed out cameras that recorded images the jury has already watched in court.
"You will see various cameras around the place, and I think they are very similar to the positions they were in 10 years ago," he said.
Baker led jurors through areas that figured prominently in the footage, including a corridor where guards kept watch outside the Imperial Suite as the couple dined inside; a service elevator where they smiled playfully at one another; and the tiled vestibule inside the Ritz service entrance where they waited for their car.
Diana and Dodi Fayed stood by the hotel's service door to avoid the crowd of fans and paparazzi out front. Footage shows Fayed with his arm around her, their fingers intertwined.
Diana, 36, and Fayed, 42, were heading from the Ritz to Fayed's private Paris apartment near the Arc de Triomphe when their Mercedes crashed in a traffic tunnel. Fayed's father — who owns the Paris Ritz — has said it was their engagement night.
Much of Monday's itinerary focused on the Pont de l'Alma underpass near the Eiffel Tower, possibly the last thing the lovers saw before their car slipped into the dark tunnel.
Baker asked jurors to absorb the sights, like the slope and twist of the tunnel, where the car slammed into a concrete pillar. Jurors crossed the underpass seven times Monday, by bus and by foot, and passed through again Tuesday.
Questions persist over why Diana's driver took the Pont de l'Alma route instead of possible shorter paths.
Jurors were taken on three different routes through Paris by bus on Tuesday. One retraced the lovers' final drive — and continued along the route they might have taken to Fayed's apartment had they survived.
The two others were alternative routes Paul could have chosen, including the shortest one past the boutiques and sidewalk cafes of the Champs-Elysees, and another more direct route that did not include the Pont de l'Alma tunnel.
Though anger quickly focused on the paparazzi after the crash, neither the French nor British investigations have blamed the photographers who pursued the Mercedes.
A French investigation concluded the car was speeding and that Paul's blood alcohol level was above the legal limit. Tests showed the presence of two prescription drugs, including the antidepressant Prozac, in his system.
Mohamed al Fayed, who insists the couple were the victims of an Establishment plot directed by Prince Philip, the queen's husband, claims that Paul was a paid informer for French and British intelligence services. He says Paul was not drunk, that blood tests were faked and that Paul was somehow induced to take the route that led to the tunnel.
The inquest is to resume Wednesday at the Royal Courts of Justice in London, where the jury is expected to hear from the first French witnesses by video link.
Summary:
Eleven British jurors went all the way to Paris to investigate the doubt point of Diana's death. Both French and British authorities agree that chauffeur Henri Paul was drunk and speeding , it was not a planned accident. The jurors traced every place Diana had stayed in Ritz and went the itinerary they drove that day again. What makes the jurors more suspicious is that why the driver didn’t took the shorter route but chose to drive into that dark tunnel. I t is also doubted whether it was true about the information we heard, was it a conspire of French and Britain?
Eleven British jurors on Tuesday they retraced Diana and Dodi Fayed's final steps through Paris' Ritz Hotel, private moments recorded a decade ago and later broadcast around the world. The jurors were in Paris for two days to visit the Ritz, the tunnel where the couple's car crashed, killing them both, and other points important to an inquest.
French authorities and Britain's Metropolitan Police have agreed that chauffeur Henri Paul was drunk and speeding, and that the Aug. 31, 1997, crash was an accident — not a murder plot, as claimed by Fayed's father, Egyptian-born billionaire Mohamed al Fayed.
Those exhaustive investigations delayed an inquest until now. By British law, inquests are held when someone dies unexpectedly, violently or of unknown causes.
Lord Justice Scott Baker led jurors up the red-carpeted stairs of the hotel and into its wood-paneled bar, where security cameras had spotted the lovers' driver, who also died in the crash. Throughout the hotel, Baker pointed out cameras that recorded images the jury has already watched in court.
"You will see various cameras around the place, and I think they are very similar to the positions they were in 10 years ago," he said.
Baker led jurors through areas that figured prominently in the footage, including a corridor where guards kept watch outside the Imperial Suite as the couple dined inside; a service elevator where they smiled playfully at one another; and the tiled vestibule inside the Ritz service entrance where they waited for their car.
Diana and Dodi Fayed stood by the hotel's service door to avoid the crowd of fans and paparazzi out front. Footage shows Fayed with his arm around her, their fingers intertwined.
Diana, 36, and Fayed, 42, were heading from the Ritz to Fayed's private Paris apartment near the Arc de Triomphe when their Mercedes crashed in a traffic tunnel. Fayed's father — who owns the Paris Ritz — has said it was their engagement night.
Much of Monday's itinerary focused on the Pont de l'Alma underpass near the Eiffel Tower, possibly the last thing the lovers saw before their car slipped into the dark tunnel.
Baker asked jurors to absorb the sights, like the slope and twist of the tunnel, where the car slammed into a concrete pillar. Jurors crossed the underpass seven times Monday, by bus and by foot, and passed through again Tuesday.
Questions persist over why Diana's driver took the Pont de l'Alma route instead of possible shorter paths.
Jurors were taken on three different routes through Paris by bus on Tuesday. One retraced the lovers' final drive — and continued along the route they might have taken to Fayed's apartment had they survived.
The two others were alternative routes Paul could have chosen, including the shortest one past the boutiques and sidewalk cafes of the Champs-Elysees, and another more direct route that did not include the Pont de l'Alma tunnel.
Though anger quickly focused on the paparazzi after the crash, neither the French nor British investigations have blamed the photographers who pursued the Mercedes.
A French investigation concluded the car was speeding and that Paul's blood alcohol level was above the legal limit. Tests showed the presence of two prescription drugs, including the antidepressant Prozac, in his system.
Mohamed al Fayed, who insists the couple were the victims of an Establishment plot directed by Prince Philip, the queen's husband, claims that Paul was a paid informer for French and British intelligence services. He says Paul was not drunk, that blood tests were faked and that Paul was somehow induced to take the route that led to the tunnel.
The inquest is to resume Wednesday at the Royal Courts of Justice in London, where the jury is expected to hear from the first French witnesses by video link.
Summary:
Eleven British jurors went all the way to Paris to investigate the doubt point of Diana's death. Both French and British authorities agree that chauffeur Henri Paul was drunk and speeding , it was not a planned accident. The jurors traced every place Diana had stayed in Ritz and went the itinerary they drove that day again. What makes the jurors more suspicious is that why the driver didn’t took the shorter route but chose to drive into that dark tunnel. I t is also doubted whether it was true about the information we heard, was it a conspire of French and Britain?
Vocabulary:
1. jurors
One of a company of persons (orig. men) sworn to deliver a verdict on a matter officially referred to them; a member of a jury; a juryman or jury-woman.
2. grainy
Resembling the surface grain of wood.
1858 Edin. Rev. July 9 It presented on its surface the grainy ripple of primeval seas.
3. whirl
Conch. The whirls of spiral shells are sometimes separated by the interference of foreign substances.
4. cramped
Contracted, strait, narrow; cramping.
5. inquest
Inquired, questioned
6. footage
part of the film showing a particular event
7. tiled
Covered, roofed, lined, or laid with tiles.
8. vestibule
In reference to ancient times: The enclosed or partially enclosed space in front of the main entrance of a Roman or Greek house or building; an entrance-court or fore-court.
9. antidepressant
a drug that is used to treat depression
10. induced
Brought on, caused, or produced, by attraction, persuasion, etc.
Q&A:
1. Where did Princes Diana stayed before the accident?
Paris Ritz
2. By British law, in which condition could inquests be held?
By British law, inquests are held when someone dies unexpectedly, violently or of unknown causes.
3. What possibly was the last thing the lovers saw before their car slipped into the dark tunnel where accident happened?
Much of Monday's itinerary focused on the Pont de l'Alma underpass near the Eiffel Tower, possibly the last thing the lovers saw before their car slipped into the dark tunnel.
4. How many route Diana’s driver could choose to go from the Ritz to Fayed's private Paris apartment near the Arc de Triomphe?
They had three alternatives.
5. Mohamed al Fayed, insists the couple were the victims of an Establishment plot directed by whom?
Prince Philip, the queen's husband
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