Fayed wins Diana inquest victory

The Harrods boss Mohamed al Fayed today won an extraordinary High Court victory over the way the inquests into the deaths of his son Dodi and Diana, Princess of Wales are to be conducted.

In an unprecedented legal action, Mr al Fayed won a ruling overturning deputy royal coroner Baroness Butler-Sloss's decision that she would sit alone without a jury.

The retired judge and former president of the Family Division was also ordered by the High Court in London not to sit as deputy coroner of the Queen's Household, and she must now find "another district" with no royal connection in which to hold the inquest.

Lady Justice Smith, sitting with Mr Justice Collins and Mr Justice Silber, rejected calls for Lady Butler-Sloss to stand down from the case.

Mr al Fayed, who believes the Duke of Edinburgh "masterminded" the deaths, said: "Diana was the people's princess.

"The people must be allowed to hear all the evidence and then, and only then, decide how she died, why she died and who ordered her murder."

The three senior judges emphatically ordered that the coroner was legally obliged under the 1988 Coroners Act to summon a jury because recommendations might have to be made to end the danger posed to royals, celebrities and members of the public by "the paparazzi on wheels".

The princess, 36, and Dodi Fayed, 42, died when their Mercedes crashed in the Pont de l'Alma tunnel in Paris in 1997 as they sped away from pursuing paparazzi.

The judges also said a jury would have to be summoned if Mr al Fayed's accusations against the royal family were investigated at the inquest.

During the hearing of Mr al Fayed's application, the judges were told there was an "eerie similarity" between the paparazzi pursuit of the princess and their recent "hounding" of her son Prince William's girlfriend Kate Middleton.

The judges said: "It is likely that there will be a recurrence of the type of event in which the paparazzi on wheels pursued the princess and Dodi al Fayed."

They also referred to allegations made by Mr al Fayed that the Duke of Edinburgh "masterminded" the deaths of Dodi and the princess with "agents of the state" involved.

The judges said if those accusations were investigated at the inquest "that consideration might be determinative in favour of summoning a jury".

Welcoming today's victory, Mr al Fayed said: "This is not the end of the road, but an important step.

"The jury must now be allowed to hear the entirety of the evidence, but I fear there will be attempts to keep it from them. If so, that will be yet another battle I will have to fight."

He added: "I have already had to fight for almost 10 years to establish once and for all how they died, why they died, who ordered their murders and who slaughtered them with such awful brutality.

"This is my duty as a father. I shall not fail Diana or Dodi, though the barriers erected against me have been many and formidable.

"Now that the coroner is compelled to have a jury, and provided that they are allowed to hear all the evidence, it will become clear beyond doubt that murder was committed.

"Diana herself knew just how much danger she was in. Those malicious people who carried out the crime and those who ordered them to do it will now finally be exposed.

"I am encouraged by today's judgment and now hope that justice can be done without further attempts to impair the process."

He called for senior members of the royal family, including Prince Philip and the Prince of Wales, to be called to give evidence at the inquest.

A spokeswoman at the Royal Courts of Justice later dismissed reports that Lady Butler-Sloss is to stand down from the case as a result of today's decision.

She said: "We are intending that, as planned, part of the pre-inquest hearing before Baroness Butler-Sloss will take place on March 5."

She added that Lady Butler-Sloss will be sitting as coroner of "some sort", although they are still assessing the meaning of the ruling on her status in the case.

Today's ruling was a victory for Mr al Fayed, the Ritz Hotel Ltd and the parents of Henri Paul, the chauffeur who also died. All called for a jury to be empanelled.

Prince William and Prince Harry have written to the coroner through their private secretary to say that they wish the inquest to be prompt, fair and transparent. It is due to start in May.

The princess and her lover died while being pursued by paparazzi photographers after leaving the Ritz Hotel for Mr Fayed's apartment.

A three-year inquiry, led by former Metropolitan Police chief Lord Stevens, found no evidence of a conspiracy to murder the couple.

The inquiry report said Mr Paul was speeding and over the legal drink-drive limit.

The police investigation was requested by royal coroner Michael Burgess when the inquests were opened and adjourned in January 2004.

Mr Burgess subsequently stepped down, blaming a heavy workload.

Mr al Fayed has criticised the decision of Lady Butler-Sloss to support publication of the findings of Lord Stevens and described her decision to sit without a jury as "perverse".

A spokeswoman for Clarence House said: "We have no comment to make about the ruling. It is a matter for the courts."

But she added that people should refer to the letter placed in court on behalf of Princes Harry and William by their private secretary, Major Jamie Lowther-Pinkerton, on January 8.

In particular, she read out the section saying: "The Princes have asked me to indicate that it is their desire that the inquest should not only be open, fair and transparent but that it should move swiftly to a conclusion."