Paris: Diana crash photographers on trial

[emad]

Three photographers are to go on trial in a Paris court on Friday for taking pictures at the scene of the car crash that killed Princess Diana, Dodi Fayed, and their French driver Henri Paul in August 1997.
They are charged with invasion of privacy, after an earlier attempt to prosecute them for manslaughter for failing to give assistance to the victims of an accident failed.

Jacques Langevin of the Sygma/Corbis agency, Christian Martinez of the Angelis agency and freelancer Eric Chassery could get up to one year in prison and a 45,000 euro fine if they are found guilty. The one-day hearing stems from a complaint filed by Mohammed Al Fayed, whose son Dodi died in the crash alongside Princess Diana.

Last year, France's highest court found the photographers not guilty of having contributed to the crash, despite the paparazzi's high-speed pursuit of the car. Instead a French investigation decided that the driver, Henri Paul, was to blame, driving too fast under the influence of alcohol. So Mr Al Fayed instead pursued another legal option, this time using France's stringent privacy laws.

The photographers took pictures of Diana and Dodi in the car both before and after the accident, though none taken at the crash site was ever published. The case will centre on whether or not the inside of the couple's car should be considered a private space. The charges are expected to relate only to the images of Dodi Fayed, as Diana's family are not party to the complaint.

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http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3209825.stm

[emad]

1. Addendum:

From the UK's Mirror today:

PRINCESS Diana had nine secret boyfriends she graded in a bizarre racing "trap" system, butler Paul Burrell reveals today.They included an Oscar-winning Hollywood actor, a sports legend, a leading musician and a famous politician. There was also a novelist, lawyer, entrepreneur and billionaire businessman, all of whom showered Diana with gifts after her divorce from Prince Charles.But the princess was smitten with only one man - and it was not her last romance, Dodi Al Fayed.

Revealing the truth about Diana's feelings for Dodi for the first time, Burrell says he was convinced their affair was doomed. He claims Diana felt suffocated by the playboy's urge to control.Diana also discovered Dodi had problems with drink, drugs, money and prostitutes. Fearing he was about to propose, she told her butler: "What do I do, Paul, if it's a ring? I need another marriage like I want a bad rash." It is well documented that Diana's only real love after her divorce was for dashing heart surgeon Hasnat Khan.

He discloses: "She controlled the position of her gentleman friends. We called it the 'trap system' as if the men were competitors on a racetrack.The occupant of trap No 1 never changed. He remained in pole position in the princess's eyes.Sometimes, the princess used to joke that the racecourse was getting 'overcrowded'.Once I wrote to her 'I have been informed that Traps 8 and 9 have been declared non-runners. One failed random drug testing, one the strict medical examination.'The princess wrote to me 'The judges have asked Mr Paul Burrell for his valuable assistance on this sensitive issue!!Following a 'steward's inquiry', it became empowering to strike a line through the traps containing the lawyer and the politician."

Like the rest of Britain, the Queen was convinced Diana and Dodi were in a serious relationship.But in an astonishing three-hour palace meeting, Burrell told her: "This romance would have ended in tears.
The princess was aware he had problems...she wanted her independence back." He tells how Diana complained on the couple's French holiday that Dodi frequently locked himself in the bathroom and "keeps sniffing" - a clear reference to drug misuse.Burrell says: "She knew Dodi had fallen in love. But she hadn't reciprocated." The butler goes on to demolish "ludicrous" claims the couple were going to marry and Diana was pregnant.Burrell turned to the Queen after becoming outraged at seeing Diana's private correspondence shredded by her mother, and her affairs taken over by those who did not know her "intimately".The Queen responded by by telling him of the "vultures" who descended after her grandmother died.She also confessed she had been unable to reach out to Diana. She said: "My gestures were either not welcomed or misunderstood." Burrell's book has kept back the names of many of Diana's suitors.But in her last years Diana was linked with rugby hero Will Carling, art dealer Oliver Hoare and businessman Gula Lalvani.

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More:

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/allnews/content_objectid=13549188_method=full_siteid=50143_headline=-DIANA%2DS%2DSECRET%2DSUITORS%2DREVEALED%2DBY%2DBURRELL-name_page.html


Mostly crap...Burrell is milking it for all its worth

[muriel_volestrangler]

2. Princes' fury over Diana book (what a surprise)

Princes William and Harry have accused their mother's former butler of "cold and overt betrayal" over revelations in his forthcoming book.
They said if she were alive today Princess Diana would be mortified by the details of her private letters which Paul Burrell has revealed.

"We ask Paul to bring these revelations to an end," said Princes William and Harry in a statement released by Clarence House Friday evening.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/low/uk/3212353.stm

Quite understandable - what would you think of someone who claims to have always done everything to support you mother, and then tries to make hundreds of thousands by talking about her affairs?