Dis driver Henri Paul may have tipped off paparazzi

The paparazzi waiting outside the Paris Ritz on the night of Princess Diana and Dodi Al Fayeds death, may have been tipped off about the couples movements by the cars driver Henri Paul, it has been suggested at the ongoing inquest.

London, Oct 5, : The paparazzi waiting outside the Paris Ritz on the night of Princess Diana and Dodi Al Fayed's death, may have been tipped off about the couple's movements by the car's driver Henri Paul, it has been suggested at the ongoing inquest.

Paul's strange conduct was highlighted by Dodi's father Mohamed Al Fayed's barrister Michael Mansfield QC, who claimed that Paul went outside to the front of the hotel five times during the two hours the couple were there.

On three of those occasions, security camera footage clearly shows him speaking at length to different members of the gathered paparazzi.

CCTV footage taken at the rear service entrance of the hotel, where Diana and Dodi eventually left shortly after midnight, also clearly shows Paul waving across the road at the few photographers who gathered there.

The new twist also raises questions over where the 12,565 francs found on his body after the crash had come from, as Paul might have been paid by the paparazzi to alert them when the couple were leaving.

The 11-member jury was also shown footage of Paul leaving the Ritz on one occasion earlier in the evening and being out of CCTV view for eight and a half minutes, a period for which no one has been able to explain where he was.

However, the images shown made it clear that Paul had been busy conversing with the paparazzi, gathered at the square at the front of the hotel.

Mansfield also claimed that until Paul spoke to the waiting paparazzi, none of the snappers had gone to the hotel's rear entrance, where Diana and Dodi Fayed would later exit, however, after Paul's conversations three photographers went to the back door, where the chauffer could clearly be seen waving to them.

"On all three of (Mr Paul's) last visits (to the front of the hotel) he appears to talk to members of the paparazzi?" the Telegraph quoted Mansfield, as questioning Inspector Paul Carpenter, the Metropolitan Police officer who compiled the CCTV footage.

The officer said "that's correct," in reply to the question.

Mansfield further asked: "Having spoken to members of the paparazzi, when he finally goes to the rear of the Ritz he actually waves to the paparazzi from the rear?"

To which the officer again said "Yes, Sir."

Mansfield told the jury that Diana and Dodi were leaving from the rear of the Ritz to avoid the throng of cameramen waiting at the front, but the CCTV indicates that the ill-fated plan to avoid the paparazzi was, in fact, betrayed by Paul.

The dramatic twist, will further fuel the conspiracy theories, formulated by Mohamed Al Fayed, who claims that Paul was in the pay of French and British security services and part of an Establishment conspiracy masterminded by Prince Philip to murder his son and the princess.

ANI