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No proof of military involvement in Lady Diana's death
The Metropolitan Police today said that there was no credible evidence that the SAS regiment of the British army was involved in the deaths of Princess Diana and Dodi Al Fayed in Paris in 1997.
The Metropolitan Police on Tuesday said that there was no credible evidence that the SAS regiment of the British army was involved in the deaths of Princess Diana and Dodi Al Fayed in Paris in 1997.
The police were handed over new material in relation to the deaths in August. After conducting a ‘scoping exercise’ into the material, the police said “there is no credible evidence to support a theory that such claims had any basis in fact.”
In view of the results of the ‘scoping exercise’, the police said there was no “evidential basis” to open any criminal investigation into the deaths or refer the matter to the coroner. An inquest in 2008 had found that the couple had been unlawfully killed.
The police said in a statement: “As part of the scoping officers were given unprecedented access to Special Forces Directorate records. Every reasonable line of enquiry was objectively pursued in order to fully evaluate any potential evidence”.
It added: “The final conclusion is that whilst there is a possibility the alleged comments in relation to the SAS's involvement in the deaths may have been made, there is no credible evidence to support a theory that such claims had any basis in fact”.
Princess Diana, the former wife of the Prince of Wales and the mother of princes William and Harry, was 36 when she died alongside Al Fayed, 42, in 1997. Henri Paul was driving when their hired Mercedes crashed into a pillar in Paris's Pont de l'Alma tunnel.
The crash happened after the couple had left the Ritz Hotel and were pursued by paparazzi on motorbikes. Al Fayed's bodyguard, Trevor Rees-Jones, was the only survivor.
