Dr Jean-Marc Martino, who had administered first aid to Diana, told the 11-member jury at the inquest that the Princess of Wales was “shouting and saying things in English which were comprehensible yet incoherent”, as the French medics had been trying to get her out of the Mercedes.

“An assistant had to hold her arm by force to get a drip in but she quickly pulled it out. Due to the agitation, the first line, the first drip was removed,” the British media reported on Tuesday, quoting Prof Andre Lienhart who translated Dr Martino’s account to the jury.

Finally, the French medics had managed to restrain the Princess by sedating her, the inquest heard.

However, a leading British surgeon has claimed at the inquest that Diana could have survived the crash had French medics not “squandered” crucial minutes treating her at the scene in the Alma tunnel.

Prof Thomas Treasure said there was a “window of opportunity’ to get her to the hospital for a potentially life-saving operation when she was put in an ambulance nearly 35 minutes after the accident.

But vital moments were allowed to “slip away” because medics opted to tend her in the stationary vehicle for another 40 minutes before deciding she was stable enough to leave.

Arguing, the French doctors said that without their actions Diana would have been dead on arrival because she was so fragile.