At an earlier hearing Baroness Elizabeth Butler Sloss, the Royal coroner, announced that she would sit alone to determine the outcome of the hearing.
In a stinging rebuke to their extremely respected colleague, the High Court ruled that she was 'wrong in law' to announce that she would sit and determine the verdict alone and that she was also wrong to adopt, for the purposes of the hearing, her mantle as 'Royal Coroner'. The High Court ruled that such a decision might 'give the impression' that the inquest was being stage managed by the Royal Family.
Give the impression? Damn right it would - particularly given the accusations against the Royal Family - and it is great to see the High Court fearlessly opting for a full public hearing, despite the fall-out that may occur from such a hearing.
Muhammad Al-Fayed has publicly claimed, and continues to do so, that Princess Diana and his son, Dodi, were murdered by the British Intelligence Service, MI6, on the instructions of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. The motive is claimed to be a fear that Princess Diana, once married to Fayed, would take her children, the heirs to the British throne, out of the country, creating a constitutional crisis.
Al-Fayed has demanded that Prince Philip be called to give evidence and has given authorities the names of two MI6 agents he claims were present in one of the vehicles at the time of the fatal Paris crash.
I don't suppose for a minute anything conclusive will come out of this, and Dame Butler Sloss still has the right to determine which witnesses are called, but at least the greatest conspiracy theory in recent British history will be examined in public and not in camera. Once more I thank heavens for our independent judiciary!
No comments:
Post a Comment