Diana Spencer/Inquest
 Michael Burgess, coroner of The Queen's Household attends a photocall at the opening of the inquest into the death of Diana, Princess Of Wales on 6 January 2004 | |
| Date | 2007/01/08 - 2008/04/02 |
|---|---|
| Location | London |
| Website | The National Archives |
| Type | Inquest |
| Interest of | Victor Lewis-Smith |
| Description | The inquest into the death of Diana, Princess of Wales |
The inquests into the deaths of Diana and Fayed opened on 8 January 2007, with Dame Elizabeth Butler-Sloss acting as Deputy Coroner of the Queen's Household for the Diana inquest and Assistant Deputy Coroner for Surrey in relation to the Fayed inquest. Butler-Sloss originally intended to sit without a jury;[1] this decision was later overturned by the High Court,[2] as well as the jurisdiction of the Coroner of the Queen's Household. On 24 April 2007, Butler-Sloss stepped down, saying she lacked the experience required to deal with an inquest with a jury. The role of Coroner for the inquests was transferred to Lord Justice Scott Baker, who formally took up the role on 11 June as Coroner for Inner West London.
The inquests officially began on 2 October 2007 with the swearing of a jury of six women and five men. Scott Baker delivered a lengthy opening statement giving general instructions to the jury and introducing the evidence.[3] The BBC reported that Mohammed Al-Fayed, having earlier reiterated his claim that his son and Diana were murdered by the Royal Family, immediately criticised the opening statement as biased.[4]
Lord Justice Scott Baker concluded his summing up on Wednesday, 2 April 2008.[5] After summing up, the jury retired to consider five verdicts, namely unlawful killing by the negligence of either or both the following vehicles or Henri Paul; accidental death or an open verdict. [6]
Inquest web site
The inquest web site, maintained by the Royal Courts of Justice (RCJ) at http://www.scottbaker-inquests.gov.uk and containing the court transcripts and all public documentation, was taken down in 2011. It is currently available from the National Archives web site. As of September 2015, RCJ have declined to provide a redirect from the original site address.
References
- ↑ http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article1293183.ece
- ↑ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6411091.stm
- ↑ Judicial Communications Office Inquests into the deaths of Diana, Princess of Wales and Mr Dodi Al Fayed: Hearing transcript
- ↑ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7023227.stm
- ↑ Judicial Communications Office Coroner's Inquests into the Deaths of Diana, Princess of Wales and Mr Dodi Al Fayed
- ↑ http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7328754.stm
