Deleted Story about Continuing Diana Murder Cover Up

DIANA DEATH: ANOTHER COVER-UP

By Mark Reynolds

CRUCIAL evidence which details what Princes Charles and Philip know about Princess Diana’s death will not be made public at her inquest.

In a move likely to spark further accusations of a whitewash, the coroner, Baroness Butler-Sloss, yesterday ruled that she will retain tight control over the mass of documents from the £4million Operation Paget inquiry into the Princess’s death.

While some information from the three-year investigation will be made available to the legal teams acting for Harrods owner Mohamed Al Fayed – whose son Dodi also died in the crash – Lady Butler-Sloss argued that other material would remain “personal and private”.

She also implied that neither Charles nor Philip would have to give evidence at the hearing, ruling that it would be quite wrong to release any “personal or private” information to the public.

Lord Stevens raised the spectre of conspiracy and cover-up when he published his long-awaited report into the Paris crash and admitted many questions surrounding that night may never be answered. But lawyers acting for Mr Al Fayed fear that the lack of information surrounding Charles’s contribution to the inquiry is “just the tip of the iceberg”.
“
It would be quite wrong to allow material of a private nature to be disclosed
”

Case coroner Lady Butler-Sloss

They also want to see the police notes on investigators’ failed attempts to get Prince Philip to answer questions about letters he allegedly sent to Diana which made her fear for her life.

It is known that Prince Charles was questioned on Diana’s fears that he planned to organise her death in a car crash. He has always denied this claim but details of those interviews have never been made available.

MI6 is so concerned about possible revelations that the Government has appointed a barrister to sit in on hearings.
Experts said it is likely MI6 bosses will try to prevent the hearing from investigating fully the activities of British agents before and after the crash.

Evidence which could ex­pose British spies or threaten national security can be quashed or heard in secret if
a judge grants public interest immunity.

Delivering yesterday’s ruling, Lady Butler-Sloss said: “It would be quite wrong to allow material of a private nature to be disclosed into the public domain unless it was necessary for the purpose of the inquest.”

It was then that she hinted that Prince Charles and Prince Philip would not be called to appear.

“The disclosure of a witness statement does not necessarily mean that the witness will be called to give evidence,” she said.

Lady Butler-Sloss has said she will ask the Operation Paget team to give the interested parties’ experts access to the Mercedes wreck, medical records, computer technology, photographs and plans.

But all this will remain “subject to confidentiality”.

Reiterating comments she made at a High Court hearing last month, Lady Butler-Sloss added that photo­graphs of the crash scene would only be inspected by those parties who have signed confidentiality agreements.

She called on Mr Al Fayed’s lawyers and other legal teams to provide a list of allegations “of wrongdoing in connection with the deaths” and evidence they have to support them.

But the extraordinary declaration looks certain to fuel accusations of a whitewash.

One source close to the inquiry said: “The trouble is we now have the coroner saying, ‘Yes I will show you the evidence, but only the evidence I see fit and I haven’t yet decided what that is yet’.

“Some are bound to see this as her acting as a royal filter when what everyone actually wanted was full transparency in order to get to the truth.”

Mr Al Fayed, who has continued his fight to find the truth about why Diana, 36, and 42-year-old Dodi were killed in Paris, was last night said to be “calmly considering the ruling” before making his response.

Lady Butler-Sloss indicated that pre-inquest hearings could be held in June and July.

The full inquest has already been delayed until October – more than 10 years after the Princess and Dodi died in August 1997, in the Pont de l’Alma tunnel.

The major part of the documentation used in the police report might be available next month, she said.

The British police inquiry concluded it was a tragic accident. Driver Henri Paul, who also killed, was speeding and over the legal drink-drive limit, the Paget inquiry concluded.

A spokesman for Mr Al Fayed said: “These latest directions and ruling were not expected. We weren’t told about it and obviously we now need to give it detailed consideration.