Princess Diana death inquiry continues

Oct 19, 2005, 14:52 GMT

Details of the death of Britain's Princess Diana could remain secret for over 100 years because of a loophole in French law.

Since the princess and her lover, Dodi Fayed, were killed in a Paris car crash eight years ago, the identities of 24 bodies placed in the same mortuary as the princess's chauffer, Henri Paul, have never been revealed. Sources close to the investigation believe blood from one of the bodies may have been swapped with the chauffer's to make it appear he had been drinking on the night of the crash.

But French death certificates do not show a cause of death and all information remains confidential for 100 years.

A judicial spokesman said: "Even if the identities of the others in the morgue were made public, there is no possibility of us knowing how they died."

Because of the legal technicality, the French authorities can keep information concerning the other 24 bodies secret for another century. The legal block means that repeated requests for information, both from the al Fayed family and the former Metropolitan Police Commissioner Lord Stevens - who is conduction an inquiry into the deaths of Diana and Dodi Fayed - have not been answered.

A spokesman for Mohamed al Fayed in Paris said: "We have struggled for years to establish the identity and cause of death of the 24 other bodies in the morgue that night.

"It cannot be right that no record has been made of their identities or of the causes of their deaths. This just reaffirms our belief that there is an orchestrated cover up.

"Until anybody can prove otherwise, we believe Diana was murdered."

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