Duke's aide to face Diana inquest

12 April 2012

The Duke of Edinburgh's top aide is to appear at the inquest into the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, next week.

Private secretary Brigadier Sir Miles Hunt-Davis is certain to be asked about Harrods tycoon Mohamed al Fayed's claim that the Duke ordered Diana's "murder" in a car crash in Paris in 1997.

The Princess's close friend Rosa Monkton and her stepmother Raine, Countess Spencer, are also listed to give evidence as the inquest enters its 11th week.

In a key few days of evidence Alberto Repossi - the jeweller at the centre of claims that Dodi Fayed had bought an an engagement ring for the Princess - and MP Nicholas Soames, whom Diana allegedly "feared", will also be called.

Others listed include Philippe Doucin, a barman who says he sold drinks to driver Henri Paul at the Ritz Hotel in Paris on the night of the crash, and Dr Arnaud Derossi, who co-ordinated the medical response at the scene of the tragedy in the Pont de l'Alma tunnel in the early hours of August 31 1997.

Mohamed al Fayed, whose son Dodi was killed in the crash with Diana and Henri Paul, is convinced the couple were murdered in an MI6 plot which he believes was ordered by the Duke of Edinburgh.

He believes the couple were poised to announce their engagement when they died and that Diana was pregnant with Dodi's child.

Sir Miles is likely to be asked about the whereabouts of correspondence between the Duke and the Princess, which her former butler Paul Burrell claims existed - part of a box of correspondence dubbed the "crown jewels".

The coroner Lord Justice Scott Baker has already told the jury that it is probable the letters from the Duke existed but added: "Where they went and whether they still exist remains a mystery."

Lord Stevens' Operation Paget report into the conspiracy allegation cites Diana's friend Roberto Devorik as listing Nicholas Soames - a friend of the Prince of Wales - as one of three people Diana allegedly "feared" alongside the Duke of Edinburgh and Lord Robert Fellowes.

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