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Diana's car 'hindered by bikes' Dying Diana images shown to jury
(about 1 hour later)
The car carrying the Princess of Wales and Dodi Al Fayed was being hindered by motorbikes before crashing, the inquest into the couple's death has been told. Pictures of the Princess of Wales taken by paparazzi as she lay dying have been shown at the inquest into her death.
The jury has been hearing about the behaviour of the paparazzi prior to the fatal 1997 Paris incident. The images were pixellated, but her hair and the side of her face inside the car could be made out.
One witness said the car was followed by two or three bikes while occupants of another vehicle reported "insistent" beeping and braking and a loud crash. The images showed duty emergency doctor Frederic Mailliez tending to the princess at the scene of the fatal Paris crash in 1997.
They did not realise who was involved until the next day. Coroner Lord Justice Scott Baker ruled the photos would not be released into the public domain.
The first witness said he was driving along the Embankment when he saw a heavy car, doing about 50mph, followed by two to three motorbikes. Met Police inspector Paul Carpenter talked the jury through the paparazzi shots, taken in the immediate aftermath of the crash.
Motorbikes
The inquest into the deaths of Diana and Dodi Al Fayed at the High Court in London was told their car was being hindered by motorbikes before crashing.
The jury heard about the behaviour of the photographers prior to the incident.
One witness said the car was followed by two or three bikes while occupants of another car reported "insistent" beeping and braking and a loud crash.
They did not realise who had been involved until the next day.
The court was also shown a series of police mug shots of members of the paparazzi taken as part of the investigation into the crash.
The first witness said he was driving along the embankment when he saw a heavy car, doing about 50mph, followed by two to three motorbikes.
He thought there were two people on one of the bikes.He thought there were two people on one of the bikes.
Two carsTwo cars
Speaking to the hearing at the High Court in London via a video link from Paris he stood by a previous statement in which he said the driver was clearly being hindered by the motorbikes. Speaking via a video link from Paris, he stood by a previous statement in which he said the driver was clearly being hindered by the motorbikes.
The jury also heard statements prepared by five occupants of a VW Polo which passed through the Pont de l'Alma underpass shortly before the collision involving Diana's car.The jury also heard statements prepared by five occupants of a VW Polo which passed through the Pont de l'Alma underpass shortly before the collision involving Diana's car.
After they emerged from the tunnel they heard loud noises behind them. David Laurent described seeing a "light-coloured hatchback", while his girlfriend Nathalie Blanchard recalled seeing a car "something like an Austin Mini or Fiat Uno" as they drove into the tunnel.
The driver said he heard insistent hooting which lasted for two seconds, then braking for two to three seconds, then a loud crash. Mr Laurent told police that he was driving into the tunnel when "all of a sudden, at the entrance to the tunnel, I came upon a car that was driving slowly in the right-hand lane.
They could not stop as no U-turns were permitted, so carried on and only made connection to the couple when they heard the news the next day. "I was taken by surprise but, even so, I had time to pull the steering wheel to the left to avoid it."
'Squeal of tyres'
But as he was leaving the underpass, he heard the sound of hooting for about two seconds, then braking for two to three seconds, followed by a loud crash.
His fiancee told police: "I heard several noises, a fairly long burst from a horn, a squealing of tyres and a crash of metal.
"I turned around, I think I was the only person who did. I couldn't see anything, neither a crashed car nor a small car."
The family drove on and it was not until the next day that they knew it had been the car carrying Diana and Mr Al Fayed, who both died along with their driver Henri Paul.