Diana embalming decision denied

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The French magistrate who authorised the release of Princess Diana's body has denied any role in the controversial decision to embalm her.

Maud Morel Coujard told Diana's London inquest she had not initially been informed of the decision following the princess's death in a Paris car crash..

Mohamed Al Fayed, whose son Dodi died in the same crash, says the procedure was carried out to conceal a pregnancy.

But the inquest jury has been told her body was treated to prevent decay.

Mr Al Fayed is convinced the embalming was ordered by MI6 via the British Ambassador to Paris, Sir Michael Jay.

The Harrods owner believes the princess was engaged to his son and carrying his baby but was murdered as part of an MI6 plot to prevent the mother of the future king from having a Muslim child.

Ambassador's orders denied

However, the jury has heard the body was embalmed to prevent it decaying before it could be viewed by the Prince of Wales in Paris on 31 August 1997 - the day of the crash.

Giving evidence via video link from Paris, Mrs Coujard, who in 1997 was a deputy public prosecutor, confirmed she had authorised the release of Diana and Dodi's bodies after they had been examined.

She said she did not remember whether she had been informed that day that the bodies had been embalmed, saying: "Maybe that was later on."

Asked if she had taken any part in the decision, she said she had not.

Counsel to the inquest Ian Burnett QC then read a section of a document, provided by Mr Al Fayed, in which he claimed that the embalming had been carried out on the orders of Sir Michael Jay.

"These instructions from Sir Michael Jay were, from what I understand, conveyed by Sir Michael Jay to Madame Coujard, of the public prosecutor's office in Paris," the document said.

Mr Burnett asked: "Is there any truth in that whatsoever?" Mrs Coujard replied: "No."

The inquest continues.