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| Diana driver 'not a big drinker' | Diana driver 'not a big drinker' |
| (20 minutes later) | |
| The parents of Princess Diana's driver Henri Paul have told the inquest into her death that they had never seen their son drink to excess. | The parents of Princess Diana's driver Henri Paul have told the inquest into her death that they had never seen their son drink to excess. |
| The princess, Dodi Al Fayed and Mr Paul died in the 1997 Paris crash and tests indicated Mr Paul was three times over the French drink-drive limit. | The princess, Dodi Al Fayed and Mr Paul died in the 1997 Paris crash and tests indicated Mr Paul was three times over the French drink-drive limit. |
| Speaking via video link from Paris, Jean and Giselle Paul said they had never seen their son drunk. | |
| They said cash found after his death was given by wealthy clients as tips. | They said cash found after his death was given by wealthy clients as tips. |
| The couple also said Lord Stevens, who carried out the Metropolitan Police investigation into the fatal crash, had assured them that their son was not drunk and had been driving more slowly than had been reported. | |
| Blood tests | |
| They also told the inquest how the French authorities refused their requests for independent tests on their son's blood to prove if he was drunk. | |
| They also dismissed suggestions that their son had been in the pay of the security services, as alleged by Dodi's father, Mohamed al Fayed. | |
| The inquest has heard experts question whether the blood samples tested came from him. | |
| The BBC's Daniela Relph said the couple were "quite frail and hard-of-hearing", and all of the lawyers acknowledged how hard it must be for them to talk about their bereavement. | |
| Henri Paul had been the acting head of security at the Ritz Hotel in Paris when he took the wheel of the Mercedes which crashed in the Alma Tunnel in August 1997. |