A war of words has broken out among the self-appointed
guardians of an unofficial shrine to Diana, Princess of
Wales, in Paris, three years to the day since her death.
Since the fatal crash, a retired decorator known simply as
Georges has made daily visits to the Flame of Liberty at
the Pont de l'Alma to maintain the shrine, which is
frequently attacked and looted by vandals.
But recently two Italian heiresses, Ada and Pina, have
taken it upon themselves to tend the unofficial memorial in
competition with Georges.
Neither side recognises the other in their claims to be the
true keepers of the memory of Diana. But now the Italian
sisters have used the first issue of a Paris version of Time
Out to press their side of the story.
"No other princess struggled so courageously against
anti-personnel mines," they say. "That's why people
spontaneously created this place in the memory of Diana."
Meanwhile Georges, 72, who said he was among the first
to visit the site of the accident after hearing about it on the
radio, is quoted in Le Figaro, stating his devotion to Diana
and condemning the vandalism to her shrine.
He says: "Poor Diana, it makes your heart break. She
didn't deserve this."
He has written to President Chirac and the Mayor of Paris
demanding that the memorial be restored. "It should have
been cleaned-up for the anniversary of her death," he
adds.
Though Georges wants a major clean-up, the sisters say
their work has greatly improved the site already. "The
monument was a rubbish tip six months ago," they say.
In spite of the feud, Georges and the sisters continue to
tend the garden of cut flowers around the base of what has
become an obligatory stop off for tourists.
~*~
Murder plot alleged in Princess Diana's death(Yahoo: reuters)
By Sue Pleming
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Mohamed Al Fayed, who owns London's Harrods
luxury department store, said on Wednesday he will sue U.S. authorities to force
access to secret documents he says may prove his son and Princess Diana were
murdered in a car crash three years ago.
Reiterating his conspiracy theory that "evil and racist forces" working through Britain's
security service killed the couple, the Egyptian-born Fayed said he hoped the
documents from the CIA and other agencies would finally reveal the truth -- that the Royal family wanted to
prevent his son Dodi from marrying Diana.
"The car crash that took the lives of these two lovely people has been portrayed as a traffic accident caused by a drunk driving
at high speed. The reality is that it was murder," Fayed said in a statement released at a Washington news conference called to
announce the lawsuit.
Lawyers for Fayed said the lawsuit will be filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on Thursday, the third
anniversary of the death of Diana and Dodi in Paris.
White House spokeswoman Nanda Chitre, in Colombia with President Bill Clinton, said any suggestion the United States
played a part "involving this terrible accident is totally unfounded."
"We understand Mr. Fayed's grief and sense of loss," she said. "However at Mr. Fayed's request, the intelligence community
has already conducted extensive searches for any documents that may shed light on the tragic deaths ... and has not located any
responsive materials that bear on or that would be useful in determining what happened."
Fayed has unsuccessfully tried to subpoena the U.S. documents through another U.S. court case and will now sue for them
under the Freedom of Information Act.
A French judge closed an investigation into the crash in September 1999, concluding the accident occurred because the
couple's driver from the Ritz Hotel, Henri Paul, was drunk.
Fayed said he had forensic proof, which was submitted to the Court of Appeal in Paris, that the blood sample taken from Paul
contained over 21 percent carbon monoxide.
"This seriously calls into question whether the blood was his, for Henri Paul died instantaneously upon impact and could not
have breathed in the noxious fumes," Fayed said, adding that Henri Paul spent at least three years working for MI6, the British
foreign intelligence service.
Speaking on a video broadcast at the news conference, an emotional Fayed said the CIA and other U.S. agencies were
withholding documents as part of a cover-up.
"I believe they are withholding some of the documents at the request of the British Secret Services," Fayed said.
"They cannot afford to let the truth be known because they know exactly where the truth lies," he said, adding that it was too
painful for him to speak in public about the deaths.
Fayed said the couple, who were "very much in love" and planned to announce their engagement, were killed because the
British royal family did not want Dodi to marry the mother of the heir to the British throne.
"The Royal household ... would never have accepted my son, a naturally tanned, curly- haired Egyptian being married to the
mother of the future king of England and becoming his stepfather," Fayed said.
Fayed charged that U.S. intelligence agencies had used the most sophisticated satellite systems to spy on Diana, possibly during
her time with Dodi, and this information had allegedly been passed on to MI6.
"There are at least 39 documents, consisting of 1,054 pages held by the NSA alone," Fayed said. "I will never rest until the
truth is discovered. Those responsible for the murders must be brought to justice."
The CIA, which has declined to comment on the lawsuit until it is filed, has previously said any claims of U.S. involvement in the
tragedy are "ludicrous."
Fayed's lawyers said they were looking in particular for documents about the Justice Department's decision not to investigate
people who had tried to extort money from Fayed in exchange for CIA documents that later turned out to be bogus.
Lawyer Mark Zaid, who is representing Fayed in the United States, anticipated the lawsuit would be lengthy but said he hoped
it would provide "some closure" for Fayed.
Expounding theories about the crash in the tunnel in Paris, Harrods head of security John McNamara said sources told them
that Paul spent several hours with French security officers before driving Diana and Dodi to their deaths.
He said a blinding light had been shone into Paul's Mercedes while it was in the tunnel and that French medical staff had taken
excessive time getting the seriously injured princess to a hospital.
Commenting on the credibility of his boss, who has scandalised the Royal family and British establishment, McNamara said:
"He's been labelled a madman ... I believe he has real reason to question what happened on August 31."
Lawyers released lengthy security camera footage from the Ritz Hotel that they said showed Paul was not drunk the night he
drove Diana and Dodi. They also released photographs of "unidentified people" who they said were waiting outside the Ritz
Hotel with paparazzi.
"We would like to know who these people were," the lawyers said, adding that French authorities had not provided answers to
this and other key questions.
~*~
Quiet remembrance for Diana(BBC News)
Hundreds of mourners visited Kensington
Palace, laden with flowers, soft toys and
photographs, to mark the third anniversary of
the death of Diana, Princess of Wales.
In Paris, bouquets of fresh flowers,
hand-written notes, poems and images of
Diana were laid at an unofficial memorial near
the scene of the crash.
But Thursday's scenes were a far cry from
those of August 1997 which saw hundreds of
thousands of people flock to Kensington Palace
and Althorp House, where Diana grew up, to
pay their respects.
Over the past eight weeks the Althorp estate,
which houses a museum dedicated to the
princess, has attracted 120,000 visitors.
The estate, where
Diana's body lies in a
grave on an island in a
lake, closed on
Wednesday until next
year.
The Royal Family and
the Spencer family
marked the anniversary
in private.
Prince William, Diana's
18-year-old son, is
away from home on the
latest leg of his gap year between school and
St Andrew's University in Scotland.
His younger brother Harry, who is 16 in two
weeks' time, was with his father, Prince
Charles, at Balmoral, the Queen's private
estate in the Scottish Highlands throughout
the day on Thursday.
The 36-year-old
princess was killed in a
car crash in Paris on 31
August 1997 with her
companion Dodi Fayed
and driver Henri Paul.
French police found
that Paul, the deputy
head of security at the
Paris Ritz, had been
drinking heavily and
was speeding when the
accident happened.
A fourth person in the car, bodyguard Trevor
Rees Jones suffered serious injury.
Lawsuit
Prayers were said at Westminster Abbey where
the princess's funeral was held a week after
her death, and mourners also paid tribute at
London department store, Harrods, which is
owned by Dodi Fayed's father, Mohammed al
Fayed.
On Wednesday Mr al Fayed announced his
plans to mount a lawsuit against US
Government agencies to gain access to
documents he believes relate to the deaths of
Diana and his son Dodi.
Mr al Fayed has refused to accept the French
findings and remains convinced that the pair
were murdered.