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Mohamed Fayed is set to 'get his day in court'
Mohamed Al Fayed has vowed to make Prince Charles and Prince Philip give evidence at the inquest on Princess Diana.
The Harrods tycoon spoke out after the High Court dramatically backed his demand for the inquest to be heard by a jury.
Also see
• Fears that Kate will become victim just like Diana
• After 10 years, Fayed finally has a victory
He declared: "I want Charles and Philip together in court. These are the people who ordered the murder."
Three judges overturned deputy royal coroner Baroness Butler-Sloss's decision to sit alone to determine how the Princess and Mr Fayed's son Dodi died.
Now Mr Fayed will fight to have the two princes and members of MI6 called as witnesses in his bid to prove the couple were killed in an Establishment conspiracy.
He said: "Diana was the people's princess. The people must be allowed to hear all the evidence and then, and only then, decide how she died, why she died and who ordered her murder."
Lady Butler-Sloss, until her retirement Britain's most senior woman judge, decided in January that she would rule over the joint inquests alone in her capacity as deputy coroner of the Royal Household.
She said it would be "an almost impossible task" for a jury.
But in a firmly-worded rebuke three High Court judges overruled her, telling her she must sit with a jury.
They cited the legal obligation for a jury to be called for reasons of public safety if it was possible the circumstances of a death could recur.
The judges pointed to similarities between photographers' pursuit of Diana in Paris and the recent "hounding" of her son William's girlfriend Kate Middleton.
They also said Lady Butler-Sloss must not sit as deputy royal coroner, saying it could make her appear biased to the public worldwide.
Officials last night dismissed reports that the former judge would stand down as a result of yesterday's ruling.
That would plunge the much-delayed hearing, due to take place May, into a new crisis and prolong the agony for Prince William and Prince Harry.
Peter Farr, from the Office of the Lord Chief Justice, said there was "no question" of Lady Butler-Sloss pulling out and that she would go ahead with a scheduled pre-inquest hearing on Monday.
But there may still be a delay if she rejects Mr Fayed's demand for members of the royal family and the security services to be called as witnesses - and he launches another appeal.
Princes William and Harry made no comment on yesterday's ruling, insisting it was a matter for the courts.
But Clarence House referred to a letter given to Lady Butler-Sloss in January in which the princes said the inquest into their mother's death should not only be "open, fair and transparent but that it should move quickly to a conclusion".
It is now almost a decade since Diana, 36, and Dodi, 42, died when their Mercedes crashed in the Pont de l'Alma underpass as they sped away from pursuing paparazzi.
A three-year inquiry, led by former Metropolitan Police chief Lord Stevens, recently concluded it was a tragic accident because driver Henri Paul was drunk and driving too fast.
But Mr Fayed has been implacable in his insistence that Prince Philip "masterminded" the couple's death. He says Dodi and Diana planned to marry, but the British establishment could not accept the prospect of the mother of a future king marrying a Muslim.
Friends of Diana, however, have emphatically denied any such wedding plans.
At his High Court appeal last month, Mr Fayed's lawyers argued that Lady Butler-Sloss had acted unlawfully by deciding to sit alone and said an inquest without a jury would "lack independence".
The Queen's lawyers agreed that the full inquest should be heard by a jury.
Yesterday Lady Justice Smith, sitting with Mr Justice Collins and Mr Justice Silber, said the coroner was obliged under the 1988 Coroners Act to summon a jury if there was reason to suspect a death occurred in circumstances "the continuance or possible recurrence of which, is prejudicial to the health or safety of the public".
A jury could make recommendations that might end the danger posed to royals, celebrities and members of the public from pursuing paparazzi.
The judges said: "It is likely that there will be a recurrence of the type of event in which the paparazzi on wheels pursued the princess and Dodi al Fayed.
"In our view, occurrences such as this are prejudicial to the safety of a section of the public. It is possible that this danger could be prevented by legislation or other means."
The judges said a jury was also important because Prince Philip was being accused of "masterminding" the deaths.
They said: "In order that there should be public confidence in the outcome of the inquest, a jury should be summoned in cases where the state, by its agents, may have had some responsibility for the death.
"The allegation is that agents of the state have been involved in the deaths.
"If, when Lady Butler-Sloss determines the scope of the inquests, she decides that Mr al Fayed's allegations must be inquired into, the possible role of state agents would be an important consideration material to her discretionary decision whether to summon a jury.
"Indeed, we think that that consideration might well be determinative in favour of a jury."
The judges also accepted Mr Fayed's argument that it would comprise Lady Butler-Sloss's independence and impartiality if she presided over the inquest as a royal coroner.
They agreed that her decision was "flawed" and she should have "considered the impression that the title might make on the worldwide public.
"It might look to them as though the coroner is on the side of the Royal family."
Westminster Coroner Dr Paul Knapman later accepted jurisdiction for the inquests.
He will appoint Lady Butler-Sloss as assistant deputy coroner to enable her to hold the hearing at the Royal Courts of Justice.
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