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| Version 2 | Version 3 |
|---|---|
| Dodi 'insisted on car decoy plan' | |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| The sole survivor of the car crash which killed Princess Diana said Dodi Al Fayed had insisted on the ill-fated decoy plan to dodge waiting paparazzi. | |
| Trevor Rees said he had had reservations about Mr Al Fayed's plan to sneak out of the Ritz Hotel. | |
| He suffered serious head injuries and made a good recovery but has said he has little memory of events which led up to Diana and Mr Al Fayed's deaths. | |
| Giving evidence at their inquest, he denied being part of a murder cover-up. | |
| Mr Rees, who was known as Rees-Jones at the time of the crash on 31 August 1997, told the jury he went along with the plan because Dodi had talked about leaving the Paris hotel with no security. | |
| Decoy car | |
| The jury has heard the decoy plan involved two cars, including a Mercedes with an official driver, waiting at the front of the hotel opposite a crowd of photographers. | |
| The couple would then leave in a third car from the rear of the hotel, driven by Henri Paul, who was not an official driver. | |
| The plan failed as there were already photographers waiting at the back and it meant the car left without a trained driver and a decoy car. | |
| Mr Rees said he could not remember if Mr Al Fayed or Mr Paul first told him of the plan but was sure the idea had come from the former. | |
| He said his response had been: "To advise Dodi that we could leave from the front in two vehicles as the crowd and the press had been pushed back." | |
| At first Mr Rees was told he would be at the front of the hotel while Dodi and the princess would travel without security from the rear. | |
| 'No security' | |
| But he said he decided they would not travel without him and again advised them they could leave from the front of the hotel. | |
| He told the jury: "I was conscious of the fact that if I kept pushing the point that the initial decision to leave without security would have prevailed so I made a decision to go with the compromise to no security and deal with the issues... later." | |
| Asked by counsel to the inquest Ian Burnett QC whose decision it therefore was, he replied: "The decision to leave from the rear of the hotel I believe came from Dodi. | |
| "The decision to leave with no security would have been Dodi's. However my decision was to travel with the couple." | |
| All I have ever done is given the truth as I see it | All I have ever done is given the truth as I see it |
| Trevor Rees | Trevor Rees |
| Mr Rees told the High Court he would have stopped Mr Paul driving if he knew he had been drinking. | |
| He had been in the bar of the Ritz with the driver, but did not realise he had been drinking alcoholic drinks. | |
| Mr Rees, who was employed by Harrods owner Mohamed Al Fayed as a bodyguard for his son Dodi at the time of the crash, broke every bone in his face and suffered serious chest injuries. | Mr Rees, who was employed by Harrods owner Mohamed Al Fayed as a bodyguard for his son Dodi at the time of the crash, broke every bone in his face and suffered serious chest injuries. |
| He was the only person in the car wearing a seatbelt. | He was the only person in the car wearing a seatbelt. |
| The ex-bodyguard told the inquest: "All I have ever done is given the truth as I see it." | |
| He made the remarks in answer to a question in which Ian Burnett QC, for the coroner, outlined Mohamed Al Fayed's controversial claim that Diana was murdered. | |
| The inquest also heard that Mr Rees worked with American author Moira Johnston on a book called The Bodyguard's Story. | The inquest also heard that Mr Rees worked with American author Moira Johnston on a book called The Bodyguard's Story. |
| Book authorship | Book authorship |
| The book, which was published in 2000, is written in the third person and based on a series of interviews with Mr Rees, his mother, Jill, and Dr Luc Chikhani, the surgeon who reconstructed the former bodyguard's face. | The book, which was published in 2000, is written in the third person and based on a series of interviews with Mr Rees, his mother, Jill, and Dr Luc Chikhani, the surgeon who reconstructed the former bodyguard's face. |
| Mr Burnett asked: "It has also been alleged by Mr Al Fayed that the book was written either by or at the behest of the security services, in particular MI6. Is there any truth in that?" | Mr Burnett asked: "It has also been alleged by Mr Al Fayed that the book was written either by or at the behest of the security services, in particular MI6. Is there any truth in that?" |
| Mr Rees said this was not the case and also denied suggestions that the book was written with former Sunday Telegraph editor Dominic Lawson. | Mr Rees said this was not the case and also denied suggestions that the book was written with former Sunday Telegraph editor Dominic Lawson. |
| He was also asked if journalist Martin Gregory, who has also written another book on this topic which does not back Mohamed Al Fayed's claims, penned the book. | |
| UN post | UN post |
| The former bodyguard said: "He had no part at all." | The former bodyguard said: "He had no part at all." |
| The jury has already heard that when Mr Rees returned to work he felt his employer was obsessed with the idea that Diana and Dodi Al Fayed had been murdered. | |
| He also thought Mohamed Al Fayed was increasingly trying to pressure him into agreeing with the theory. | |
| Mohamed Al Fayed alleges that Mr Rees has not lost his memory, and that the former bodyguard was appointed to a UN post to ensure his continued silence. | |
| Mr Rees has denied the claims. | Mr Rees has denied the claims. |