Diana inquest jury travels to Paris

A British court convened in Paris today as the jury in the Princess Diana inquest retraces her last journey.

A British court convened in Paris today as the jury in the Princess Diana inquest retraces her last journey.

The 11 jurors, who began hearing evidence on the death of Diana and her lover Dodi Fayed in London last week, are to visit the Pont de l'Alma tunnel to see the spot where the Mercedes the couple were travelling in crashed ten years ago.

The underpass is one of a series of sites across the French capital that the jury will see on a two-day trip to familiarise themselves with the setting for the evidence they will hear over the next six months.

Before going to the tunnel, they visited the Ritz Hotel, where the couple dined before setting out on their journey on August 31st, 1997, as well as the hospital where the princess was taken after the crash.

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The coach carrying the jurors was involved in a crash as it arrived at the hotel.

It collided with its own police outrider, knocking him off his motorcycle. The officer was unhurt. Moments later, the coach then clipped a bollard in the area in front of the hotel, knocking off a hubcap and bursting a tyre.

As the bus finally set off, jurors were shown the front of the Ritz before being driven round the rear to Rue Cambon to inspect the service exit at the back of the hotel.

It was from there that Diana and Dodi left on what would be their final journey. The jurors are due to follow the route taken by their driver Henri Paul towards Dodi's flat.

Their first stop would be the Place de la Concorde, where they were due to dismount from the coach and examine the road layout. It was expected that the jury would stop by the roadside to examine the traffic flow into the tunnel before all vehicles are halted, allowing them to walk through the famous underpass.

PA