Mr Mohamed al-Fayed created a sensation among reporters in Paris yesterday when he called the mother of Diana, Princess of Wales, a snob. "If she wants to talk to me, she's welcome," the father of the late Dodi Fayed, Diana's lover, said. "You know these people. They think they come from another world, from the moon. They're not like ordinary people, like you and me."
After they both attended the official inquiry into their children's death behind closed courtroom doors, he was asked by reporters whether he had spoken to Ms Frances Shand Kydd about the case. He replied: "Who's she? I don't need to talk to her. She is pursuing her matters as I am pursuing mine. She lost her daughter and I lost my son.
"If she thinks she belongs to the royal family and doesn't want to speak to ordinary people like me, that is up to her. I am just a working-class guy."
Protagonists in the Princess Diana saga fought for their honour yesterday as judges took more than six hours to reconstruct a quarter of an hour in the Pont de l'Alma tunnel after midnight on August 31st, 1997.
For the nine photographers and a motorcyclist under investigation for manslaughter and failing to assist the accident victims, it was a question of proving they did not impede rescue attempts and they did not take pictures before phoning for help. Their version is corroborated by a doctor and a fireman, but disputed by two policemen.
More than 200 snapshots were taken in those 15 minutes. Investigators have been able to determine how far they were from the dying princess - some approached to within a yard.
The photographers' lawyers claim the poor quality of the photos shows they were in a state of shock. They maintain the drunk, speeding driver, Henri Paul, caused the accident.
That version of events, however, - the most obvious - affects the honour of Mr al-Fayed, Paul's employer. As Mr Paul's employer, Mr al-Fayed could be held responsible for the Ritz security officer's fatal errors.
The Egyptian billionaire has vacillated between blaming the photographers for pursuing Princess Diana's Mercedes and alleging that the couple were murdered by a conspiracy in which the British royal family may have played a role.
Almost every British paper puts the story on the front page today, but most shy away from promoting Mr al-Fayed's version of events. The Sun headlines today's front page "The Reptile" above his picture. Of the broadsheets, the Independent says: "It seems that Diana is destined, sadly, to be as much the conspiracy theorists' princess as she was the people's."
