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London: Mohammad Al Fayed made it clear on Monday that he would continue his one-man crusade to prove that Diana, Princess of Wales and his son Dodi were "murdered'' in an MI6 plot, despite all evidence to the contrary.
Al Fayed, 79, said the inquest jury's verdicts would be "a blow'' to the "many millions of people around the world'' who he claimed still believed his conspiracy theory. And he hinted that he would continue to use the courts in his attempts to prove his discredited claims, which have already cost the taxpayer an estimated £10 million (Dh75 million) by dragging out the inquest process for more than 10 years.
Although the inquest jury, after six months of exhaustive evidence, decided that the Princess died in an accident caused by Henri Paul's drunkenness and the pursuing paparazzi, Al Fayed left the courtroom insisting: "The most important thing is it is murder.''
Spies and assassins
In his mind, the "pursuing vehicles'' referred to by the jury contained not photographers, but spies and hired assassins, ordered to murder the Princess and her boyfriend by the Duke of Edinburgh in order to prevent them marrying and having a Muslim baby.
But Al Fayed is now likely to find attention turning to whether he was in any way culpable for the accidents.
Kes Wingfield, one of the two bodyguards assigned to Dodi Fayed, told the inquest that the plan to whisk the couple away in a car driven by Henri Paul had been "okayed'' by Mohammad Al Fayed, despite vehement protests from Wingfield and his colleague, Trevor Rees. He told ITN on Monday: "Ultimately he [Al Fayed] will look at himself in the mirror and know that the role he played was quite a major one in this accident.''
Critics have accused Al Fayed of using his wild conspiracy theories as a "smokescreen'' to deflect attention from his own conduct on the night of the crash. Al Fayed was "disappointed'' by the verdicts.
Asked if Al Fayed might now challenge the verdict through a judicial review, his spokesman, Michael Cole, said: "That's a very difficult route but we are keeping all options open.''
Without Al Fayed's deep pockets and his legendary belligerence, the inquests into the deaths of Princess Diana and Dodi would almost certainly have been wrapped up as long ago as 1999.
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