It may never be known if Princess Diana was pregnant when she died with her lover Dodi al-Fayed in a high-speed Paris car crash, the inquest into their deaths was told today.
Dodi's father, billionaire Harrods owner Mohamed al-Fayed, says the couple were killed in 1997 by Britain's security services on the orders of Queen Elizabeth's husband, Diana's former father-in-law.
Lord Justice Scott Baker
Mr Fayed says the royal family ordered the killings because Diana was pregnant and was planning to marry her Muslim lover.
Summing up his opening remarks on day two of the inquest, Lord Justice Scott Baker said: "It is likely that pregnancy is a matter that cannot be proved one way or the other in scientific terms in this case."
Diana (36), Dodi (42) and chauffeur Henri Paul were killed when their Mercedes car crashed in a road tunnel as they sped away from the Ritz Hotel in Paris, pursued by paparazzi.
Mr Fayed, whose allegations were yesterday outlined by the judge, also claims that Diana's body was hastily embalmed to cover up evidence that she was expecting another child.
The judge asked the jury to consider if the embalming was legal, who authorised it and whether there was an ulterior motive.
Lord Justice Scott Baker, presiding over a case that has attracted worldwide interest and may take up to six months to resolve, said there was conflicting evidence about an engagement ring said to have been bought by Dodi for Diana.
He also went into scientific detail over the post-mortem tests carried out on Henri Paul, the chauffeur who drove their car.
Investigations by French and British police have concluded the deaths were a tragic accident caused by Paul, who was found to be drunk and had been speeding. They both rejected Mr Fayed's conspiracy theories.
Lord Justice Baker also revealed that among the witnesses he hoped to call at the inquest was Paul Burrell, Diana's butler who she referred to as "her rock".
The jury will later hear "scene setting" evidence, including CCTV and a tourist video.
Yesterday they were shown dramatic photographs depicting the last moments of the Princess's life, including ones of her and Dodi in the back of the car shortly before the crash and of the wreckage afterwards.
Lord Justice Scott Baker told the jury of six women and five men that many had come to believe something "sinister" may lie behind the crash in the Pont de l'Alma tunnel in Paris on August 31st, 1997.
But he urged them to disregard the "millions of words" which had been said and written on the subject and come to a decision on the evidence they heard.