The Mammoth Book of Cover-Ups

At 7 p.m. that evening Dodi Al-Fayed and the Princess of Wales left the Ritz Hotel to go to Dodi Al-Fayed’s apartment in rue Arsène Houssaye. They had no intention of returning to the Ritz Hotel that night. We are also certain that Henri Paul had no intention of returning to the Ritz Hotel after he went off duty shortly after their departure. For a number of reasons the plans of all three individuals changed. The Princess of Wales and Dodi Al-Fayed had planned to dine at a well-known Paris restaurant and at about 9.40 p.m. they were being driven there. It was because of the attention of the paparazzi during this journey that Dodi Al-Fayed instructed his chauffeur to drive instead to the Ritz Hotel. They arrived there at 9.50 p.m. This was unexpected and consequently the night duty security officer called Henri Paul’s mobile telephone and told him of their arrival. Henri Paul apparently expressed surprise but immediately returned to the hotel. All of the evidence we have examined indicates that this was entirely in keeping with Henri Paul’s conscientious approach to his work.

Much has been made of Henri Paul’s «missing three hours» between leaving the Ritz Hotel and returning on that Saturday evening. No one can be sure exactly where he was during those three hours, but it is clear that, until he was telephoned at 10 p.m. by the Ritz Hotel night duty security officer, he cannot have known that he would be returning to the Ritz Hotel and nor did anyone else.

Once back at the Ritz Hotel, Dodi Al-Fayed had a conversation with his father. Mohamed Al-Fayed recalls that Dodi informed him of his wish to return to the apartment in rue Arsène Houssaye in order to present the Princess of Wales with an engagement ring. Dodi Al-Fayed had purchased a ring for her that afternoon from Repossi Jewellers. The Princess of Wales was not with him at that time and we believe she never saw that ring. I do not know whether Dodi was going to ask her to marry him that night. I cannot say what the Princess of Wales’ response would have been. However, we have spoken to many of her family and closest friends and none of them has indicated to us that she was either about to or wished to get engaged. Her last conversations with friends and confidantes were to the contrary. Prince William has confirmed to me that his mother had not given him the slightest indication about such plans for the future.

At around 10.20 p.m. Dodi Al-Fayed passed a message to Henri Paul through the night duty manager. Another car would now be required to take the couple back to his apartment in rue Arsène Houssaye. This car was to depart from the rear of the Ritz Hotel.

The car, the driver and the point of departure all therefore changed within a very short space of time. This left no opportunity, in my opinion, for anyone to put into action any plan, particularly one that would have required so much preparation and so many people to effect it.

At around 12.20 a.m. on Sunday 31 August 1997 the Princess of Wales, Dodi Al-Fayed and Trevor Rees-Jones left the Ritz Hotel in a Mercedes driven by Henri Paul. As we now know, Dodi’s chauffeur-driven car and backup vehicle were to depart from the front of the hotel shortly afterwards.

The French investigation traced and identified many eyewitnesses, including drivers and their vehicles. There may be other eyewitnesses who have not come forward but I am confident that, on the evidence we have, a full and comprehensive picture of events can be constructed.

We know that the car travelled at excessive speed during the final part of the journey while again being followed by the paparazzi. We know the route it took. We can say with certainty that the car hit the kerb just before the thirteenth pillar of the central reservation in the Alma underpass, at a speed of 61 to 63 miles per hour. This is about twice the speed limit on that section of road. What exactly happened at the end of that journey is a matter for the inquests to decide. However, we conclude that nothing in the very rapid sequence of events we have reconstructed supports the allegation of conspiracy to murder. In particular, following the work done by police collision investigators and other experts, we are confident that any theories concerning flashing lights inside the Alma underpass can be discounted as the cause of this crash.

The Fiat Uno

We believe there was a glancing contact between the Mercedes, driven by Henri Paul, and a white Fiat Uno just before the Alma underpass. Much has been made of a French photojournalist, Mr James Andanson. It has been alleged that he was the driver of the Fiat Uno and an agent of the security services.