BRITAIN:Mohamed al-Fayed was challenged yesterday to produce evidence to back up his claims that his son Dodi and Princess Diana were assassinated as the result of a conspiracy involving the royal family.
Lady Elizabeth Butler-Sloss, the coroner who will hear the inquest into the deaths, said she had not been given "a shred of evidence" about any of the allegations Mr Fayed has made.
Michael Mansfield, Mr Fayed's legal counsel, said the Harrods boss wanted the Prince of Wales and the Duke of Edinburgh to appear as witnesses. However Lady Butler-Sloss said that if there was no evidence of a plot, she would not present Mr Fayed's allegations to the inquest jury.
"It would be enormously helpful if I had some evidence from Mr al-Fayed's team to support allegations that are being made because at the moment there is not a shred of evidence given to me about any of those allegations, and for me to explore them I would need some evidence."
It emerged yesterday that one of the French medical experts who investigated chauffeur Henri Paul's death has refused to give evidence to the inquest.
Dominique Lecomte, the pathologist who conducted Mr Paul's postmortem, and Gilbert Pepin, who tested his blood, are key witnesses. It was not clear which of them has declined to co-operate.
The inquest is unlikely to begin before October.