Princess Diana's Death 'Not An Accident'

The death of Britain's Princess Diana was not an accident, Mohamed Al-Fayed's lawyer has claimed.

In his new book 'Memoirs of a Radical Lawyer', Michael Mansfield - who represented the retail magnate at the inquest into the Paris car crash that killed Diana and Mohamed's son Dodi in 1997 - claims there are still "many unanswered questions" about the case.

The 67-year-old legal expert wrote: "I found it difficult simply to accept that what happened in the Alma Tunnel in Paris was ‘just one of those tragic things'. Of course it might have been, but then that's what 'they' always hope we will think.

"Judging whether a hidden hand is at work is always difficult, but I prefer a healthy and inquisitive assessment of the authorised version, and for me it was mere serendipity to be approached a year after the crash and asked to represent Mohamed Al Fayed for the purposes of an inquest."

Mansfield also denied the lengthy High Court inquest was unnecessary, insisting Mohamed had the right to find out what had happened to his son.

He added: "There is still a widespread belief that the inquest was a waste of time and money and came to no different conclusion than previous investigations and inquiries. This is a serious misconception.

"On April 7, 2008, the jury did not decide it was just a tragic accident but returned a verdict of unlawful killing by the drivers of both the Mercedes and the following vehicles. The ‘following vehicles' element in the verdict was an aspect that very few commentators picked up on, or bothered with."

The tome also question other issues that were not "resolved by evidence or reflected in the verdict", including a missing box of Diana's personal papers and the "regular and sizeable" amounts of money that went into Dodi's chauffeur Henri Paul's bank account in the three months prior to the crash.