It was the first time a British inquest had been in session abroad and only the second time for any UK court.

The only precedent was the 1999 war crimes trial of former Nazi Anthony Sawoniuk, when a jury was taken to the scene of the murders in the village of Domachevo in western Belarus.

Following the French Government’s refusal to force paparazzi living there to testify, the coroner proposed having their previous statements read to the jury.

He immediately faced a legal challenge from lawyers arguing that he could not introduce such controversial evidence without calling a witness to cross-examine.

The coroner lost at the Court of Appeal but the matter sparked calls from senior judges for the law to be redrafted.

Branding parts of the 1984 Coroners’ Rules, which govern inquests, as “antiquated rubbish” and “improper for the modern age”, Lord Justice Thomas asked: “Who is responsible for this lamentable state of affairs? Someone should be politically answerable for this.”

There was another first in February when several MI6 agents gave evidence to the inquest to answer Mohamed al Fayed’s allegations that the agency murdered Diana and Dodi in a staged car crash.

The organisation’s former head, Sir Richard Dearlove - known as “C” during his time in the job - explained in his evidence that his appearance was a departure from MI6’s usual policy of neither confirming or denying any claims about its activities.

“When matters of let’s say grave concern arise, rare exceptions of policy are made, and obviously, in this particular instance in this court, I think one can understand why an exception is being made,” he said.

While Sir Richard, who is now the master of Pembroke College Cambridge, appeared openly, several serving MI6 employees gave their evidence to a cleared court, with the media and public consigned to an annexe with only an audio link.

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