Official report: Diana’s death a ‘tragic accident’

updated 1:09 p.m. ET Dec. 14, 2006

LONDON - A British police inquiry released Thursday concluded that the deaths of Princess Diana and her boyfriend in a 1997 Paris car crash were a “tragic accident” and that allegations of murder are unfounded.

The report also said Diana was not pregnant, that she was not engaged to marry Dodi Fayed, and that their chauffeur was drunk and driving at more than 60 mph — twice the speed limit — when their car crashed while being chased by photographers.

The inquiry, which largely confirmed previous findings by French investigators, also said there was no reason to suspect the involvement of the royal family in the death of Prince Charles’ former wife.

“Our conclusion is that, on all the evidence available at this time, there was no conspiracy to murder any of the occupants of the car. This was a tragic accident,” said Lord John Stevens, former chief of the Metropolitan Police, who led the investigation of the deaths of Diana, 36, and Fayed, 42.

“There was no conspiracy, and no cover-up,” Stevens added.

The couple was killed along with chauffeur Henri Paul when their Mercedes crashed in the Pont d’Alma tunnel in Paris on Aug. 31, 1997, while being chased by media photographers. Bodyguard Trevor Rees-Jones was seriously injured.

Paul was drunk, with a blood-alcohol level twice the British legal limit, and driving at twice the local speed limit before the crash, Stevens said.

“We can say with certainty that the car hit the curb just before the 13th pillar of the central reservation in the Alma underpass, at a speed of 61 to 63 miles per hour,” Stevens said. “Nothing in the very rapid sequence of events we have reconstructed supports the allegation of conspiracy to murder.”

Murder plot alleged
Fayed’s father, Mohammed al Fayed, has alleged that the couple was killed as a result of a plot by the establishment, including British intelligence agencies and Prince Philip, her former father-in-law.

In an interview with British Broadcasting Corp. radio Thursday before the findings were released, al Fayed rejected the report’s conclusions, which newspapers had predicted.

“I am the father who lost his son. I am the one who knows everything,” said al Fayed, owner of Harrods department store.

Stevens said that photographers had prompted Diana and Fayed to change travel plans before their death. Contradicting long-standing rumors, family and friends denied in interviews that Diana was about to marry Fayed, and Diana was not pregnant, Stevens said.

“From the evidence of her close friends and associates, she was not engaged and not about to get engaged,” Stevens said.

Royals hope report puts case to rest
Stevens said he had interviewed Prince Charles and had communicated with Philip and her eldest son, Prince William.

“I have seen nothing that would justify further inquiries with any member of the royal family,” he said.

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