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British inquest into death of Diana to be announced next week
London, Aug 29: A British inquest into the Paris car crash that killed Princess Diana is to be finally held six years after she died, a London newspaper reported today.
London, Aug 29: A British inquest into the Paris car crash that killed Princess Diana is to be finally held six years after she died, a London newspaper reported today.
Royal Coroner Michael Burgess is set to announce a date for the inquest next week, said the Daily Mirror.
"By early next week we should have a date," the tabloid quoted a local government spokesman as saying. The inquiry "is likely to start sooner rather than later", said the spokesman for the government council in surrey, south of London, where Diana's lover Dodi Fayed, who also died in the crash, is buried.
The Daily Mirror said Burgess was waiting to see if he can conduct a joint inquest on Diana and Dodi.
"It may be that both inquests are held by Burgess," said the spokesman. The paper said it was unsure whether the inquest would be held in public as the government and Buckingham Palace may argue that by doing so national security could be compromised.
Dodi's father, Egyptian-born tycoon Mohammed Al Fayed has long campaigned for a public inquiry, claiming the crash was the result of foul play.
Dodi and Diana were in the back seat of a limousine - pursued by photographers on motorbikes - when it crashed inside a road tunnel in the French capital on August 31, 1997. Only Diana's bodyguard survived. French judges concluded that the crash was due to the fact that the driver had been drinking and the car was travelling too fast.
Diana was divorced from Britain's heir to the throne Prince Charles at the time of her death.
Bureau Report
"By early next week we should have a date," the tabloid quoted a local government spokesman as saying. The inquiry "is likely to start sooner rather than later", said the spokesman for the government council in surrey, south of London, where Diana's lover Dodi Fayed, who also died in the crash, is buried.
The Daily Mirror said Burgess was waiting to see if he can conduct a joint inquest on Diana and Dodi.
"It may be that both inquests are held by Burgess," said the spokesman. The paper said it was unsure whether the inquest would be held in public as the government and Buckingham Palace may argue that by doing so national security could be compromised.
Dodi's father, Egyptian-born tycoon Mohammed Al Fayed has long campaigned for a public inquiry, claiming the crash was the result of foul play.
Dodi and Diana were in the back seat of a limousine - pursued by photographers on motorbikes - when it crashed inside a road tunnel in the French capital on August 31, 1997. Only Diana's bodyguard survived. French judges concluded that the crash was due to the fact that the driver had been drinking and the car was travelling too fast.
Diana was divorced from Britain's heir to the throne Prince Charles at the time of her death.
Bureau Report