Britain's Queen Elizabeth said she had been concerned about the late Princess Diana having a long-term relationship with Dodi al-Fayed, Diana's butler Paul Burrell said today.
Giving his third day of testimony at an inquest into their 1997 deaths in a Paris car crash, Burrell explained how he had requested a meeting with the monarch after Diana's death because he was concerned that Diana's mother, Frances Shand Kydd, was shredding so many of Diana's documents.
When pressed in court about what the Queen had told him at the meeting, a reluctant Mr Burrell said the Queen was concerned that the princess had become "rather over-excited".
Asked what she said about a long-term union with Dodi, Mr Burrell replied: "Her Majesty was concerned about the future."
Harrods owner Mohamed Al-Fayed alleges that his son and Diana were killed by British security services on the orders of Prince Philip.
Fayed believes her killing was ordered because the royal family did not want the mother of the future king having a child with his son. He alleges that Diana's body was embalmed to cover up evidence she was expecting a baby.
Al-Fayed's lawyer Michael Mansfield asked Mr Burrell about suggestions that Prince Philip, notorious for making tactless gaffes in jest, had called Dodi "an oily bedhopper".
Mr Burrell said of Prince Philip: "He has made a few mistakes in the past. I cannot possibly think he would say that."