Diana died after 'scare' plan went wrong

Lawyer Michael Mansfield, who represented Dodi’s father Mohamed al Fayed at the 2007 inquest into Diana’s death, said he was sure that Diana’s “killers” had no intention of ending her life and simply wanted to scare her.

Mansfield believes there was a plan to frighten her which went horribly wrong in a Paris tunnel in August 1997, the Daily Mail reported.

“I don’t believe anyone wanted to see her dead. I think there was a plan to sabotage the relationship (with Dodi) and alter her life, to try to stop her activities. But this plan went very badly and ended with her death,” Mansfield said. In an interview with Catalan daily El Periodico published on Friday, Mansfield said British authorities opposed several aspects of Diana’s private and public life.

He said: “I believe the relationship between Princess Diana and Dodi al Fayed displeased the authorities.

“In spite of all the work Mohamed al Fayed did for children and hospitals, he was persona non grata in Britain.

Campaign costs dear

“As far as Diana was concerned, she had given interviews attacking the royal family for the way they treated her, but I think what most annoyed the authorities was that Diana became very actively involved in the campaign against land mines.”

Mansfield, the radical Queen’s Counsel, said: “The investigation into Diana’s death showed she was preparing to denounce British complicity in the sale of weapons to countries that do not respect human rights.”

He said: “Diana’s fears for her safety and her reoccupation with surveillance were thoroughly canvassed, and in my view were found to be entirely justified. Unfortunately her predictions came to pass.” His latest comments on the tragedy were made during a trip to Barcelona.

Earlier in memoirs published last year on his colourful 40-year career, Mansfield has claimed that Diana’s road crash death was no accident. He has said: “In case of Diana and Dodi, I have always believed that whatever had caused the crash, it was not an accident.”

A jury, after a six-month inquest, concluded in April 2008 that Diana had been unlawfully killed. It blamed the grossly negligent driving of her chauffeur Henri Paul and chasing paparazzis.

However, Mohamed al Fayed, who told the inquest Diana was murdered in a conspiracy involving Tony Blair, MI5, MI6 and the British ambassador to France, has refused to accept the verdict.