Princess Diana was embalmed ‘to look beautiful’

Princess Diana was embalmed because her driver Colin Tebbutt wanted her ‘to look beautiful’, a court heard yesterday (26.11.07).

The jury at the London inquest into Diana’s death were told the former royal protection officer had instructed French funeral directors to ‘do whatever you do’ to make the princess look fit to be seen before her ex-husband, Prince Charles, arrived with other family members to view the body.

Tebbutt said: ‘It is a very emotional time, to walk in and see your boss lying like she was. She looked old, her mouth was down, not a lot of damage, but she had that ‘I do not want to be here’ look.

‘To me, it was about wanting to see her looking like the beautiful woman she was. That was all I was concerned about, nothing else.’

Tebbutt’s revelations contradict claims by Mohamed Al Fayed – the father of Dodi Fayed who died with Diana in a Paris car crash on August 31, 1997 – who claims the late princess was embalmed to hide the fact she was pregnant with Dodi’s child.

The driver told jurors he didn’t think there was any sign the princess was planning on getting engaged to Dodi, and even suggested they were ‘just friends’.

He added: ‘I think she was enjoying his company. She never mentioned to me anything in respect of a forthcoming engagement to Dodi Fayed or a major change in her life.

‘In my opinion, she was enjoying a friendship, a holiday, and using the Al Fayed’s organisation’s helicopter and aeroplane. These facilities made getting in and out of the country a lot easier.’

Yesterday, the jury also heard from pathologist Dr. Robert Chapman, who claimed there was ‘no evidence’ Diana was pregnant.

Chapman explained he came to his conclusion because he did not find the ‘tell-tale changes’ in the uterus that ordinarily suggest pregnancy.