Bodyguard does not advance investigation

French judiciary sources say the brief testimony of the bodyguard who was severely injured in the August 31st car crash which killed Princess Diana, Mr Dodi Fayed and their driver has done little to advance the police investigation of the accident.

In particular, Mr Trevor ReesJones's memory of a white hatchback car and two motorcycles pursuing the princess's Mercedes as it left the Ritz Hotel did not shed any light on what happened a few minutes later in the tunnel under the Alma bridge.

In the interview between the investigating magistrate, Judge Herve Stephan, and Mr ReesJones, excerpts from which were published yesterday by the Guard- ian, the bodyguard said: "I remember getting into the car and I do not remember anything else."

Princess Diana and Mr Fayed were "really upset" by the number of photographers waiting for them outside the hotel, Mr Rees-Jones said. "I remember that we were followed. That's all." He confirmed that the couple were indeed on their way to Mr Fayed's apartment in the rue ArseneHoussaye, near the Arc de Triomphe.

Asked who followed them, Mr Rees-Jones answered: "There were two motorbikes and one car. I do not remember the route. It seems to me that there was one white car with a boot which opened at the back - a three-door which opens at the back." Mr Rees-Jones said he would not be able to recognise the white car.

Sources close to the investigation say Mr Rees-Jones's recollection of a white car does not dramatically alter what is known of the events of that night. The key question is what happened inside the tunnel, which Mr ReesJones does not yet remember.

The possibility of a hostile chase and collision between the Mercedes and another car, which could have caused the driver, Mr Henri Paul, to lose control, is one hypothesis being entertained since traces of paint were found on the right front of the Mercedes. But that paint is dark blue, not white like the car recalled by Mr Rees-Jones.

Forensic scientists established last week that chips of a rear left-hand indicator light found near the site of the crash came from a Fiat Uno.

Nothing indicates that the fragments come from the accident which killed Princess Diana. Judge Stephan has asked for all records of car accidents in the Alma tunnel for the week preceding the crash, to see if a Fiat Uno was involved in one of them.

Reports in the French press said Mr Claude Roulet, the deputy director of the Ritz Hotel, had called Henri Paul back to work that night.

Mr Rees-Jones said it was Mr Fayed himself who called Mr Paul, whose state of inebriation is still believed to be the primary cause of the accident.

PA adds:

The transcript of the first interview between Judge Stephan and the bodyguard clearly confirms what doctors described last week as a case of "partial amnesia" brought on by the shock. Mr Rees-Jones recalled there were "numerous" photographers at the Ritz and that their presence upset the couple so much that Mr Rees-Jones asked them to move from the entrance.

Nevertheless, Mr Fayed found it necessary to leave via the hotel's rear entrance, and called back Mr Paul, who had gone off duty, and asked him to act as driver. Mr Rees-Jones's own preference would have been to travel in two cars to keep the photographers as far back as possible.