Word: inquests
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OCTOBER 2007 A separate inquest begins in London, following a three-year postponement, to further investigate the case...
...included was the conspiracy theory that Dodi's father, Harrods owner Mohamed Al-Fayed, has been pushing from the start, claiming that Prince Philip had ordered Britain's intelligence service, MI6, to orchestrate the crash and kill the two lovers. Baker explained throughout the entire inquest that he had not seen "a shred of evidence" to prove that the Duke of Edinburgh or the British intelligence service were behind the crash, so he was legally obliged not to offer "staged accident" as a possible verdict. But even with murder off the table, the panel decided to assign responsiblity...
...what now? Well, not much. While the coroner recognized that "unlawful killing is a form of the very serious crime of manslaughter," the inquest is not a criminal trial. The verdict can't be used to launch a criminal investigation or prompt the pressing of charges against any of the paparazzi who are still alive. (Even if it could, Britain's Crown Prosecution can't prosecute foreign nationals for crimes committed abroad, and all of the paparazzi involved are foreigners...
...fact that murder was never an option to the jury is a blow to Mohamed Al Fayed, who at the start of the inquest said he would accept the jury's verdict, whatever it was. In a statement read on his behalf immediately after the verdict was delivered, he said he was "disappointed," and that "The French and [British] inquiries were wrong and these inquests prove it." Taking a jab at the coroner, he criticized Baker's "accusations against me," adding "I feel that my character and beliefs... have been on trial." He remains convinced of conspiracy...
This may look a lot like the closure that so many have been waiting for. But over its six months, the inquest brought up a bunch of questions that were never fully answered: What happened to the letters that were in Diana's keepsake box, the letters that some of her friends say showed Prince Philip's animosity towards the Princess? Exactly how serious was Diana and Dodi's relationship? Will Trevor Rees, the only survivor of the crash, ever remember anything about what happened...