Harrods tycoon Mohamed al Fayed declared today that the late princess of Wales and his son Dodi Fayed were "murdered" in evidence given to their inquest.
Mr al Fayed began giving evidence to the jury at the central London hearing by stating he would "make no allegations" and said he was simply declaring his beliefs about how the couple died.
But then he told the court: "Princess Diana also told me personally before and during the holiday we shared in July 1997 of her fears. She told me that she knew Prince Philip and Prince Charles were trying to get rid of her."
Mr al Fayed insists the Paris car crash that killed Dodi, Diana and their driver, Henri Paul, on August 31st, 1997, was the work of MI6 at the behest of the Duke of Edinburgh.
He claims that Diana was killed because she was pregnant with Dodi's child and about to become engaged to his son. The Harrods boss also believes the British establishment could not accept an Egyptian Muslim as a stepfather to the future King of England.
Mr al Fayed branded Philip a "Nazi" and a "racist" and said: "It's time to send him back to Germany from where he comes."
"You want to know his original name - it ends with Frankenstein."
Mr al Fayed also raised concerns about a message - dubbed the Mishcon note -written by Diana's divorce lawyer, Lord Mishcon, after an October 1995 meeting outlining her fears that there was a plot to kill her in a car crash.
Lord Mishcon passed it on to police following a meeting with then-Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Paul Condon after the princess's death.
It was only when Diana's former butler, Paul Burrell, produced a note from the princess making similar allegations in the Daily Mirrorin October 2003, when Sir John Stevens was head of the Met, that the police agreed to hand over the Mishcon note.
It was sent to the coroner in December 2003.
Mr al Fayed said: "My belief that my son and Princess Diana were murdered was confirmed when I learned that the two leading commissioners - Lord Condon and Lord Stevens - did not show the coroner the note made by a leading lawyer, Lord Mishcon, detailing the princess's fears for her life."
He added: "I cannot believe that they sat upon such an important note and did not pass it on to the (examining French Magistrate) Judge Stephan in Paris and (the then coroner) Michael Burgess.
"I believe that they acted unprofessionally and they must have no conscience." The Harrods boss described the note as "devastating" and said it explained Diana's fears in "black and white".
Mr al Fayed told the inquest jury that Diana had told him she was pregnant in a phone call. "Diana told me on the telephone that she was pregnant. I'm the only person they told.
"They told me they were engaged and would announce their engagement on Monday morning. She would speak to her sons when she returned from Paris."
At the beginning of his evidence, Mr al Fayed read out a statement in which he addressed his main concerns about the crash and the points he wanted the inquest to deal with. The tycoon said Diana had told him she had kept a wooden box and if anything was to happen to her he must make sure the contents of the box were made public.
He said he spoke to Mr Burrell immediately after the crash and was assured by the butler that the box would be kept safe. "I told him, if anybody tried to tamper with the contents, to tell me," he said.
"He did not keep his promise, the next I heard he had been arrested."
Mr al Fayed said Diana's sister, Lady Sarah McCorquodale, had come to him two days after the crash. "She told me that she thought the crash was suspicious, that she would find the box and keep its contents safe. She has not done so."
He added: "I am certain, also, that she was part of the cover-up."
Mr al Fayed believes that driver Henri Paul - who was also killed in the crash - was not drink-driving as suggested by blood tests, which he believes were faked. He thinks he was distracted by a blinding flash of light, possibly from a stun gun.
PA