Princes call for speedy conclusion to Diana inquest

THE British inquest into Princess Diana’s death in a 1997 car crash in Paris resumed yesterday with a plea from her sons that conclusions be reached quickly.

“It is their desire that the inquest should not only be open, fair and transparent but that it should move swiftly to a conclusion,” according to a letter from Jamie Lowther-Pinkerton, private secretary to the princes, which was read at the opening session.

Elizabeth Butler-Sloss, a retired senior judge and member of the House of Lords, presided at preliminary hearings at the Royal Courts of Justice, which focussed on procedural issues. She ruled that the deaths of Diana and her boyfriend Dodi al-Fayed would be examined together.