UK NEWS
'I'M SURE DIANA AND DODI WERE ENGAGED,' SAYS LAWYER
The inquest heard that Diana and Dodi may have been engaged
By Nicola McCafferty for express.co.uk
DIANA'S lover Dodi Fayed hinted that the couple were engaged a few days before the fatal car crash, the inquest heard today.
Dodi called his father's legal adviser, Stuart Benson, to tell him that
he had "very exciting news" while he and the Princess cruised around
the Mediterranean on a luxury yacht.
Mr Benson said he understood Dodi's "exciting news" to mean that the
couple had decided to wed.
No other
details were given during the brief call but the lawyer was asked if he
was free the following Monday to discuss issues arising from the news.
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It was clearly not a business discussion. It was something he felt he could not talk about on the phone - that was my reaction to what he said
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The lawyer, who worked for Harrods boss Mohamed al Fayed for more
fifteen years, told the inquest that, following the call, he was
“pretty sure” that Dodi was getting engaged.
The inquest into the deaths of Diana and her lover Dodi has already
heard that Dodi bought the Princess a ring at the Repossi jewellers
hours before their deaths on August 31 1997.
Mr Benson told the inquest that Dodi called him just two days before
the fatal Paris crash by Mr al Fayed’s son.
He said: “It was singularly short and pretty much the exact words
(were) ’can’t really talk over the phone but my friend and I have very
exciting news.
“’Are you around on Monday
to have lunch as it will mean lots of issues to talk about and
discuss’.”
When Ian Burnett QC,
representing the inquest, asked Mr Benson why he believed the couple
were engaged, the lawyer said it was the “tone of voice and voice used”.
“It was clearly not a business discussion. It was something he felt he
could not talk about on the phone - that was my reaction to what he
said,” the lawyer said.
He added: “The
only person I shared it with was Fiona (my partner) when I went home
that evening.”
Mr Benson told the hearing
Diana was not mentioned by name by Dodi as he was concerned that his
calls might be bugged.
The inquest also
heard that an MI6 team was operating at the British Embassy in Paris at
the time of the death of Diana, Princess of Wales.
But former ambassador Lord Jay told the Princess’s inquest in London
that he had no reason to believe it had anything to do with her death
in a car crash in the French capital in the early hours of August 31,
1997.
The diplomat - then known as Sir
Michael Jay - told the High Court hearing that the first he was even
aware of Diana’s presence in Paris was when he was awoken with news of
the crash just over an hour afterwards.
Mohamed al Fayed is convinced it was staged as part of an MI6 murder
plot to eliminate the couple to prevent them marrying.
Mr al Fayed believes spies based at the embassy were operating at the
behest of the Duke of Edinburgh.
Asked by
counsel to the inquest Ian Burnett whether the Secret Intelligence
Service (SIS) - better known as MI6 - had a presence at the embassy in
1997 he confirmed that it had.
He added
that there had also been a representative of the Security Service MI5
working there at the time.
He agreed with a
passage from his earlier police statement which said: “There was such a
team at the British Embassy in Paris staffed by members of the Secret
Intelligence Service and one member of the Security Service.”
He explained: “It’s to liaise with the French authorities on issues
such as counter terrorism, anti-drugs work, security issues and to
share intelligence on matters of foreign policy.”
Asked if he had to be kept informed about MI6 operations in Paris he
said: “Yes, if it had been a major operation which was likely to raise
particular sensitivities then I would expect to have been told.”
Mr Burnett continued: “You have indicated that you would have been
aware of anything significant going on, was there anything significant
going on of which you were aware?”
He replied: “No”.
** READ MORE BREAKING NEWS FROM THE PRINCESS DIANA INQUEST NOW **
Video 
FELLOWES
11.02.08, 11:55pm
Actually if you read the inquest material you will find that Lord Jay stated that the communications room would be closed on the Saturday afternoon for the weekend. Any calls coming into an Embassy over the weekend is normally answered by security.
• Posted by: crowood • Report Comment
LORD JAY SURPRISING EVIDENCE
11.02.08, 11:45pm
Ian Burnett QC, representing the inquest, said: "It has been suggested that Lord Fellowes had commandeered the operations room in the embassy essentially to oversee and organise the murder of his sister-in-law. Was he in Paris?"
Lord Jay: "No. He was not."
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So if as it is aleged Jay was in his quaters asleep and being "raised at 01;30 (french time ) to be told the news of Diana's crash..... then how on earth could he have known who was in the Communications room at midnight ?Mr X says that Fellowes came into the Communications room at 12.00 .half an hour before the hit.
Was Jay asleep and awake checking out the Communications room at the same time ?
Or is his support for Fellowes without boundries ?
.
• Posted by: JonO • Report Comment
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