According to conspiracy theorists, the jury for the inquest of Princess Diana and Dodi Al Fayed got it all wrong. It wasn't an "unlawful killing" - it was murder. And the dastardly deed was undertaken by any one, or more, of a number of persons.
If you think like Mohammad Al Fayed, and unfortunately a vast number of people do, it was the Queen and her consort, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, who were the instigators of the crime. And no amount of evidence saying otherwise will change the minds of the conspirators.
Apparently, for the act to be carried out, the two royals successfully managed to persuade the MI6, the MI5, the French security services, the French police, the French coroner, Diana and Dodi's personal security staff, the hotel security staff and, last but not least, the driver - who drank sufficient alcohol to be impervious to the suggestion that he commit suicide and double murder by driving his car into a column in a Paris tunnel.
That is a lot of people involved in a plot that supposedly is hush-hush.
Additionally, the royals were apparently able to corrupt the course of justice in the Stevens inquiry and dictate to the coroner who may or may not be called as witnesses, to ensure only one possible verdict could be arrived at. And it is a verdict which, inevitably, Al Fayed and his paid lackeys will never accept.
Sadly, it is a story that will run and run, not least because it sells newspapers, and not just by the much-ridiculed (but highly circulated) tabloid press.
It also seems that what was once considered to be the "more serious" press are also keen to ensure sales figures remain high, so stoop to run salacious articles of Diana and Co - while condemning the tabloids for doing so, of course.
Despite the verdict, some shrill members of the public, the doubting Thomases and Thomasinas, are still asking questions. Such as why were all 17 CCTV cameras in the tunnel not working on the fateful night, something I'd not heard before. I wonder where that came from - probably some seedy source.
Then there is: Why was Diana's body embalmed almost immediately without a thorough post mortem being carried out? I interpret that as meaning it wasn't a "British" post mortem but a "French" one.
Conspiracy theorists also question why, if the driver was so drunk, Diana's bodyguard, Rhys-Jones, didn't stop him from driving?
The jury heard that the driver was a favoured employee of Mohammad Al Fayed, although it is now being denied, and he had told security staff he had been cleared to drive the decoy route. But then we are told by the doubters that we should not believe such slurs on Mohammad's good name.
Furthermore, cry the coconspirators, why didn't Rhys-Jones insist on Diana wearing a seatbelt and refuse to accept claims that Diana rarely wore a seat belt and couldn't be persuaded otherwise. And who would want to disabuse the perfect image of the People's Princess?
Then there is the question of the white Fiat Uno that was supposed to have hit the car as it entered the tunnel. The mysterious Fiat was allegedly found some weeks later burnt to a cinder in a field somewhere in France. The charges are that it was MI6 - or was it MI5, or even the paparazzi? - operatives that committed the crime and sped into oblivion.
But, and this is the big one, why weren't the Queen and Prince Philip brought in and subjected to the third degree until such time as they admitted participation in the felonious act?
There is more, if you bother going to the internet and doing some research, that is grist to the mills of conspiracy theorists.
This will join the ranks of other conspiracies, such as the White House plan to demolish the World Trade Centre on 9/11, the mysterious person in the grassy knoll when President John F. Kennedy was shot; the "magic bullet" theory; Lee Harvey Oswald and his marksmanship; his murderer, Jack Ruby's mysterious involvement; Martin Luther King's assassination; Marilyn Monroe's death and so on.
And that's without mentioning Roswell and UFOs. Not forgetting Elvis, of course. He who is alive and well and living in Las Vegas as a croupier.
Your comments
Should we live another 100 years putting up with all this Diana-based news? This person has been dead for a long time now - come on guys, move on to other productive issues. Gulf News, stop wasting reams of pages on such trivial issues!
Vijay
Dubai,UAE
Posted: April 13, 2008, 10:23
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