Parents' legal bid to clear Diana chauffeur

The parents of Henri Paul, the chauffeur blamed for the car crash that killed Diana, Princess of Wales, are taking legal action in an effort to clear their son's name.

Jean and Gisele Paul, who have always rejected the idea that their son was a heavy drinker, say they believe the blood sample taken at the time of the accident was not their son's. They said the levels of carbon monoxide found in the blood sample would incapacitate an adult and that their son would have been unable to walk, let alone drive a car.

Mr Paul's parents say they believe that the blood tested could have come from one of dozens of other bodies held at the Paris morgue on the night of the crash in 1997.

They are taking legal action to try to force the French authorities to release the blood for an independent DNA test.

The crash, in a Paris underpass on 31 August 1997, killed Princess Diana, her companion, Dodi Fayed, son of the Harrods owner, Mohamed Al Fayed, and Mr Paul. Trevor Rees-Jones, bodyguard to the princess, survived despite severe injuries.

A French inquiry into the crash found Mr Paul was drunk, under the influence of prescription drugs and driving at high speed.

Mrs Paul told the Today programme on BBC Radio 4 there were 30 other autopsies that night and that the blood samples could have become muddled.

"They could have easily made a mistake with 30 autopsies done on the same day. It is possible they made a mistake," she said.

"We want to know the truth. We are certain that our son was not drunk. We don't accept it. They said his liver was in perfect condition and we would have known, we would have seen, if he had been drinking.

"The 28th of August he passed his medical exam for his pilot's licence. Everything was fine. Three days later he was labelled alcoholic."

She said the authorities had failed to offer an explanation for the high levels of carbon monoxide discovered in the blood sample.