Diana, 10 years on, full coverage

MOHAMED AL-FAYED has angrily rejected a plea by the Bishop of London for the memorial service for Diana, Princess of Wales, to mark the end of skirmishing over her.

The Harrods owner dismissed Richard Chartres as a “stuffed shirt” after he urged the congregation, including the Queen, Prince Charles and members of Diana’s family: “Let it end here.”

In a clear sign that next month’s inquest into her death in a 1997 Paris car crash will be a bitter affair, Fayed, whose son Dodi died with Diana, accused Chartres of “hijacking” Friday’s memorial service.

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BACKGROUND

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“Prince Harry had the grace to acknowledge the suffering of other families who lost someone that night . . . This stuffed shirt of a clergyman should take lessons from the 22-year-old prince in how to behave. He certainly shouldn’t have hijacked a memorial service dedicated to Diana, Princess of Wales, to let us know various of his personal opinions - for that’s all they were.

“He preached at us to let her memory rest, but how can that happen when the truth is still being covered up? As a religious man the bishop has no right to interfere in the court process which will establish what happened that night.”

Fayed’s legal team will allege at the inquest that Diana, Dodi and their driver Henri Paul were murdered in an MI6 plot orchestrated by the Duke of Edinburgh.

The duke and Diana’s closest friends firmly reject the claim. Lord Stevens, the former Metropolitan police commissioner, concluded in a report last year that they died in a tragic accident caused by Paul driving while he was over the drink limit.

In a statement yesterday Fayed said he could not understand why Chartres, an executor of Diana’s will, appeared to want to dismiss his search for the truth.

“That’s all I’ve ever wanted. Anyone who loses a child in such a horrific way should be allowed to know what really happened and I am not resting until I uncover the murderers who took the life of two beautiful people.

“A poll today says 89% of people think their deaths were not an accident. I get hundreds of letters of support each week. We need justice, for my family’s sake, and for the sake of the princes.”

Meanwhile, a surgeon who operated on Diana after the car crash has claimed that medical treatment that could have saved her life was delayed because her fame caused doctors and paramedics to be overcautious.

Dr Leonardo Esteves Lima, a Brazilian cardiologist who treated Diana at the Hospital Pitié-Salpêtrière, said: “They spent 30 to 40 minutes at the place of the accident when she could have been brought directly to the hospital. It was a tragic occurrence and perhaps she paid a price in part for her celebrity.”

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