Diana feared spectre of Mary, Queen of Scots

Published on Thursday 17 January 2008 21:01

DIANA, Princess of Wales, compared herself to Mary, Queen of Scots and said she would "be chopped", an inquest heard yesterday.

The princess made the comments when she was having lunch with Isabelle Huppert, who was playing the title role of Mary Stuart at the National Theatre in summer 1996.

Interior designer Roberto Devorik, a friend of Diana, who was also at the event, said the actress had invited the princess to see the play. Mr Devorik told the jury of the princess's response: "I would not like to know the ending, because I will finish like Mary, Queen of Scots and be chopped."

The inquest also heard from Lord Condon, chief of the Metropolitan Police when Diana died, who said the princess would not have died in a car crash in Paris if she had been willing to accept police protection.

He said he had begged Diana to reinstate her protection but she refused to reverse her decision, made in December 1993, as she did not trust police.

He said: "If, as my wish, she would have had police protection in Paris, I'm absolutely convinced those three lives would not have been tragically lost."

Police officers only accompanied the princess when she travelled with her sons, Prince William and Prince Harry. Private security officers accompanied Diana and Dodi in Paris.

Lord Condon was later accused by Michael Mansfield, representing Mohamed Al Fayed, of being part of a conspiracy to cover up the murder of the princess and her boyfriend, Dodi Fayed.

He was asking Lord Condon about a note he had seen from Diana to her lawyer Lord Mishcon, in which she revealed fears she would be killed in a car crash, and asked why Lord Condon had not disclosed the note earlier.

"You were sitting on it, knowing that something had gone wrong in Paris linked to the work of British state agencies," Mr Mansfield said.

The coroner, Lord Justice Scott Baker said: "You are suggesting, are you, that Lord Condon was part of a criminal conspiracy?"

"Yes," Mr Mansfield said.

Lord Condon, who headed the Metropolitan Police between 1993 and 1999, responded: "

I find the suggestion totally abhorrent, offensive, and it would actually mean that I am a murderer or, in essence, part of a murderous conspiracy."

The inquest continues.