Henri Paul should not have been driving Princess Diana the night she was killed in a car crash, a court heard yesterday (03.12.07).
Popular on LondonNet
Henri – who was head of security at Paris Ritz hotel, where Diana and her lover Dodi Fayed had been staying – was behind the wheel when the couple’s Mercedes crashed into pillar 13 of the Pont d’Alma tunnel, killing all three of them on 31 August, 1997.
The jury at the inquest into the couple’s deaths were yesterday told Dodi’s usual driver, Philippe Dorneau, remained at the front of the hotel in another car to act as a decoy to the paparazzi, while Henri drove Diana and Dodi away from the back entrance.
The Ritz’s night security manager, Francois Tendil, said he believed Henri and the two bodyguards had come up with a “doomed plan”, with Dodi playing a key part.
Due to the situation and what Dodi could see in front of the hotel, he decided at the last minute that Henri could drive the car Speaking at the hearing at London’s High Court, he said: “Due to the situation and what Dodi could see in front of the hotel, he decided at the last minute that Henri Paul could drive the car.”
The jury also heard from Dorneau, who tried to draw the photographers away for the couple by driving off in another direction. The driver explained it was the first time in his experience that Dodi had been pursued by the paparazzi.
He said: “They were everywhere. I started to drive and there were motorcycles everywhere, I remember that, on the pavement, on the road, everywhere.”
Dorneau said he believed the fatal crash would not have happened if the
paparazzi hadn’t pursued the Mercedes.
The driver also confused the court by saying Dodi had lots of fiancées. It has been speculated that Diana and Dodi were engaged at the time of the crash, but Dorneau said Dodi had lots of women before the princess and claimed the word fiancée in France did not necessarily mean they were engaged.
Dodi’s father, Mohamed Al fayed, has always claimed the couple were murdered by the British establishment because they were engaged and expecting their first child together.
