Word: ritzes
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...least a dozen cars and chauffeurs from a different rental company, International Limousine, were available at the Ritz that night. Another car was also available to Dodi: his father Mohammed al Fayed's green bulletproof Mercedes 500 SEL with sophisticated security features, which was sitting at its usual spot in the underground Vendome parking garage. "I don't understand why this car was not used that night," a senior Ritz official told TIME. "Especially since Dodi had taken it on other occasions...
...Jones quit his $37,000-a-year job with Mohammed al Fayed's security force, saying he had to "move forward" with his life. Fellow bodyguard Alexander ("Kes") Wingfield followed suit in June. Since then, the two bodyguards and their lawyers have adopted a more aggressive stance toward the Ritz-Fayed side, giving the impression that Rees-Jones, a civil plaintiff in the investigation, may be preparing a damage suit against al Fayed's hotel...
...June 30, Rees-Jones' lawyer Christian Curtil wrote to Stephan asking him to re-examine the Ritz's responsibility in the accident, specifically requesting new interrogations of senior hotel officials and a manager of Etoile Limousine. The lawyer's move could lead the judge to widen the probe and put Ritz and Etoile officials under formal criminal investigation along with the paparazzi. Though Rees-Jones' amnesia makes it difficult for him to testify, he has a powerful ally in Wingfield. On July 3, at his own initiative, Wingfield met with Stephan and delivered a potentially incriminating account of the role...
...June 5, but many discrepancies remain. Road tests last May proved that all the motorcycles and scooters involved in the chase were powerful enough to keep up with the Mercedes. Lawyers for the photographers argue that Paul's drunkenness and reckless driving caused the accident, and point to the Ritz's responsibility in allowing Paul to take the wheel. Lawyers for the Ritz-Fayed camp claim that the aggressive pursuit by the paparazzi was the main "causal factor" behind the speed and choice of itinerary leading to the notoriously dangerous Alma tunnel...
...expected to wind up his investigation this fall, but a trial, if it occurs, is not likely to take place until at least mid-1999. The civil phase, which will almost certainly spill over into the next century, is apt to wind up in an unseemly brawl involving the Ritz, al Fayed, the bodyguards, the paparazzi, Etoile Limousine and, of course, the insurance companies. Meanwhile, al Fayed continues to pursue his own investigation and to defend his son's reputation, keeping his London and Paris apartments eerily intact. "It is like the Egyptian pyramids," he says. "When you die, everything...