Inquests into Diana, Dodi deaths announced

Inquests into the deaths of Diana, Princess of Wales and her lover Dodi Fayed will go ahead, a coroner said today.

Inquests into the deaths of Diana, Princess of Wales and her lover Dodi Fayed will go ahead, a coroner said today.

Mr Michael Burgess, who will conduct both inquests, said they would happen "in time" but it was "premature" to say when.

Surrey County Council had suggested today that a date for the start of Dodi Fayed's inquest was to be announced "imminently".

But Mr Burgess later asked the council to issue a statement on his behalf making it clear that was not the case.

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The statement did, however, confirm that inquests will be held into bothdeaths.

There had been fears that, six years on, there may never be a full investigation into the tragedy in a British court.

The statement said: "In time, as the law requires, there will be inquests into the deaths of both the late Dodi Fayed and Diana, Princess of Wales. "But it is premature to outline any arrangements or suggest any dates or timescale."

Attempts to do so would be "entirely speculative", it said. Diana (36) and Dodi, (42) were killed along with chauffeur Henri Paul when their Mercedes crashed in a Paris underpass on August 31st, 1997.