The inquiry's interim report will agree with earlier French findings on the Mercedes that crashed in Paris in 1997, killing Diana, her boyfriend, Dodi Fayed, and their chauffeur, Henry Paul, the Daily Mail said. It will say that even a skilled racing driver would have had difficulty controlling the car as it hurtled through the Pont d'Alma tunnel in the French capital.

The paper said the interim report, to be published in May by former Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir John Stevens, who led the two-year Metropolitan Police investigation by 10 detectives, will dismiss conspiracy theories that have surfaced about the deaths, including an allegation that Prince Charles was plotting to kill his former wife by staging a car accident.

Fayed's father, Al Fayed, who owns Harrods Department Store in London, has said he suspects not only Charles, but also his father, Prince Philip.

France's highest court dropped manslaughter charges in 2002 against nine photographers who pursued Diana's car before it crashed or who took photos at the site.

An official French inquiry concluded that Paul was three or four times over the drunken driving limit when he left the Ritz hotel in Paris with the couple and bodyguard Trevor Rees-Jones, who was seriously injured in the crash.

A Metropolitan Police spokesman declined to comment about the Daily Mail report, saying the investigation was still under way and no date had been set for the interim report to be completed and given to the coroner in the case. The official spoke on condition of anonymity in line with force policy.

The Japan Times Weekly: March 11, 2006
(C) All rights reserved