The Diana Inquest: October 2007 - April 2008

[CasiraghiTrio]

People will believe what they want, indeed. Even with these letters showing the compassion between The Duke and Diana, there will be people saying the letters were ill-chosen or tampered with. Around and around it will go, and the speculation will always go on in certain places. Probably forever in the so-called "Di-express".

[Skydragon]

A lot has been made of the dates of the letters, with suggestions that the relationship took a downturn after she started dating Dodi. The letters were quite old, but I don't have a problem with the very personal information being edited out, I understand that the coroner saw the unedited versions. After the very public split, things would have become awkward but I do not believe that Phillip would ever have threatened her or made derogatory comments. He may sometimes have, to some, a misplaced sense of humour, but I have always seen him as a caring man.
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BBC NEWS | UK | 'Crown jewels' glimpsed at Diana inquest

The court was on a treasure hunt from the start. The prize was nothing less than the "crown jewels". That's what the private letters between Princess Diana and the Duke of Edinburgh have been dubbed.

Taken from the article and a sentiment I agree with
He said: "Mr Mansfield, I think what you have failed to accept is that actually, once the divorce had happened, what Princess Diana did was not relevant to the mainstream of the royal family."
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BBC NEWS | UK | Diana's letters to Dodi revealed

Princess Diana's Letters To Dodi Fayed |Sky News|UK News

Two intimate letters from Princess Diana to her lover Dodi Fayed have been released at the inquest into their deaths.

Is it me, the first letter sounds like the normal 'thank you' to a male you have just met and spent a holiday with. from the little bits I have seen (not a lot), they could hardly be termed 'intimate'.

[CourtSprite]

Originally Posted by CasiraghiTrio

People will believe what they want, indeed. Even with these letters showing the compassion between The Duke and Diana, there will be people saying the letters were ill-chosen or tampered with. Around and around it will go, and the speculation will always go on in certain places. Probably forever in the so-called "Di-express".

Let's face it, as long as it shifts papers and boosts viewing ratings, the media will never let it drop.

I was pleased however to hear it confirmed that the late Princess was NOT pregnant at the time of her death. Surely that was a no-brainer and it was one of the more ridiculous rumours that were circulated.

[Warren]

Originally Posted by CourtSprite

... the late Princess was NOT pregnant at the time of her death... it was one of the more ridiculous rumours that were circulated.

It is not a 'rumour being circulated' but a bald-faced statement of "fact" made (repeatedly) by... Mohammed Al Fayed. Would he lie about something like this?

[CourtSprite]

Originally Posted by Warren

It is not a 'rumour being circulated' but a bald-faced statement of "fact" made (repeatedly) by... Mohammed Al Fayed. Would he lie about something like this?

Now he is just creepy. His obsession with the whole business isn't normal.

[georgiea]

Originally Posted by Warren

It is not a 'rumour being circulated' but a bald-faced statement of "fact" made (repeatedly) by... Mohammed Al Fayed. Would he lie about something like this?

I don't think Mohammed al Fayed lied about this fact. But he did lied about talking with Diana after the accident.

The inquest explained that the body was embalmed at the request of Diana's driver to preserve her body in the hot hospital room. But, what I don't understand is why just her lower body was embalmed?

Like I said before - I hope this inquest answers all questions, but I think it is opening up a "can of worms" about deaths ten+ years ago.

[Warren]

Originally Posted by georgiea

But, what I don't understand is why just her lower body was embalmed?

I don't know where this "just her lower body was embalmed" comes from.
This is what the Paget Report says at page 552:

The embalming carried out by the French may have been only sufficient for viewing. In my opinion what embalming had been carried out was only for the purpose of the viewing and to tidy up her appearance. The closing of eyelids and open mouths, the addition of makeup and some injection of embalming fluids around the areas of visible injuries following traumatic death is quite normal.

Originally Posted by georgiea

The inquest explained that the body was embalmed at the request of Diana's driver

Diana's driver? Paget Report, pages 548 and 560 [my bolding]:

Jean Monceau, an experienced French embalmer, believed this was the only way to ensure the Princess of Wales was presentable. He discounted the use of dry ice or mortuary cleansing because of the extent of her injuries.

The embalming of the Princess of Wales was carried out in accordance with French procedures. As explained in (1) above, the doctor at the Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital, Professor Bruno Riou, confirmed that there were no medical/legal obstacles associated with the body. The Deputy Public Prosecutor then signed the burial certificate and had no further responsibility for the body. The authority required to embalm in these circumstances, on a Sunday in Paris, is that of a person having authority to proceed with funeral arrangements, together with a representative of the Préfet de Police. Keith Moss, Consul-General at the British Embassy, and Commissaire Divisionnaire Martine Monteil, Head of the Brigade Criminelle of Paris Police, provided these, respectively.

[georgiea]

Originally Posted by Warren

Jean Monceau, an experienced French embalmer,

Diana's driver at the hospital asked for Diana's body to be presentable for the people coming to see her in the hot, hospital room. That is when Jean Monceau took over.

We learnt about that when Diana's driver talked at the inquest.

I don't know what goes into the embalming procedure, but the procedure destroys and evidence of pregnancy. So with the driver and Raine's testamony and the Paget report it looks like al Fayed is not telling the truth again.

[Duchess]

i wasn't aware that embalming had anything to do with keeping the eyes and mouth closed. i thought that had to do with the process of rigor mortis.

[Jo of Palatine]

Originally Posted by Skydragon

BBC NEWS | UK | Diana's letters to Dodi revealed

Princess Diana's Letters To Dodi Fayed |Sky News|UK News

Two intimate letters from Princess Diana to her lover Dodi Fayed have been released at the inquest into their deaths.

Is it me, the first letter sounds like the normal 'thank you' to a male you have just met and spent a holiday with. from the little bits I have seen (not a lot), they could hardly be termed 'intimate'.

Pity we won't be able to read all the other letters Diana wrote to men she spent time with in order to establish for ourselves how "hot" this "love" was.
Now that would tell a lot about "Shy Di".

[CasiraghiTrio]

^ Her relationships with other men aren't relevant to the case. But I must agree that this exhibit (the letter excerpt) shows a normal, sober thank you. Granted, however, there is obviously more in the letter.... this excerpt ends mid-sentence.

[Moonmaiden23]

Originally Posted by Jo of Palatine

Pity we won't be able to read all the other letters Diana wrote to men she spent time with in order to establish for ourselves how "hot" this "love" was.
Now that would tell a lot about "Shy Di".

I completely agree...I was watching the am morning talk shows and they were quoting from the letters, and I was thinking to myself that I have written things like that to my RELATIVES for heavens sake!

The late Princess had a certain "style" in her writing, she was invariably affectionate and doting to people she cared about. In one of her last letters to the late Liz Tilberis(editor of Vogue or Bazaar) she tells her that " I will always ALWAYS be here for you, darling dearest Liz" or something. I could go on and on. But there is certainly nothing in these Diana letters that would make me think she was going to marry the man!

[ysbel]

Originally Posted by Jo of Palatine

Pity we won't be able to read all the other letters Diana wrote to men she spent time with in order to establish for ourselves how "hot" this "love" was.
Now that would tell a lot about "Shy Di".

I'm more intrigued by Diana's gift of her father's cufflinks to Dodi. Diana loved her father dearly and I just can't imagine she would give a momento from her father to someone who was just a casual fling.

[georgiea]

Originally Posted by ysbel

I'm more intrigued by Diana's gift of her father's cufflinks to Dodi. Diana loved her father dearly and I just can't imagine she would give a momento from her father to someone who was just a casual fling.

Ysbel, I also thought that about Diana's father's cufflinks. But could someone tell me if my memory is correct. I thought I readed that Diana gave Hewitt her father's cufflinks. Maybe she had two pairs or did he ask James for them back when the relationship ended?

[TheTruth]

Originally Posted by georgiea

Ysbel, I also thought that about Diana's father's cufflinks. But could someone tell me if my memory is correct. I thought I readed that Diana gave Hewitt her father's cufflinks. Maybe she had two pairs or did he ask James for them back when the relationship ended?

I knew that James gave her his signet ring but I didn't know she had given him her father's cufflinks nor to Dodi ...

[ysbel]

Originally Posted by georgiea

Ysbel, I also thought that about Diana's father's cufflinks. But could someone tell me if my memory is correct. I thought I readed that Diana gave Hewitt her father's cufflinks. Maybe she had two pairs or did he ask James for them back when the relationship ended?

Or her father could have left her more than one pair of cufflinks.

[ysbel]

Originally Posted by TheTruth

I knew that James gave her his signet ring but I didn't know she had given him her father's cufflinks nor to Dodi ...

Apparently this came out with the testimony of Rosa Monckton. I got this from the BBC:

In one letter Diana described a gift to Mr Al Fayed - cufflinks which belonged to her father.

BBC NEWS | UK | Diana letters show love for Dodi

[BeatrixFan]

We're certainly seeing a different side to Diana. Quite worrying for us 'Camillaphiles' eh?

[georgiea]

Originally Posted by BeatrixFan

We're certainly seeing a different side to Diana. Quite worrying for us 'Camillaphiles' eh?

What different side? When she went out with Dodi she was divorce and only 36. She was a generous person and Dodi was showering her with gifts. If she did fall for Dodi - what would be bad about that?

I admire Princess Diana and if she did have lovers while married - as I have said before it is because Prince Charles left her for another woman in 1986. BeatrixFan, or others - if you where about 25 and left in a loveless marriage what would you do?

[ysbel]

I'm more interested in the fact that Diana's friends dismissed her relationship with Dodi as a casual fling.

Here is the quote from the letter from Diana to Dodi,

"Darling Dodi, these cufflinks were the very last gift from the man I loved most in the world, my father," she wrote.
"They are given to you as I know how much joy it would give him to know they were in such safe and special hands. Fondest love, Diana."

I'm still dumbfounded that Diana would give her father's cufflinks to a casual acquaintance and quite frankly it seems unbelievable.

I know Diana's mother and sister's dismissed Diana's statement about Paul Burrell being her rock as over-dramatic and not indicative of Diana's real relationship to Burrell but now that Diana's friends have downplayed Diana's relationship with Dodi, I wonder if they were being really truthful or did they downplay the relationship because they were trying to protect Diana?