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CNN Live At Daybreak
Inquest Into The Death Of Princess Diana Begins Today
Aired January 06, 2004 - 05:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Let's get more now on the inquest into the death of Princess Diana.
Let's head live to London and Paul Hancocks -- good morning, Paula.
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.
Well, as we speak, that inquest is going to be opened by the coroner to the queen's household, Michael Burgess. He started speaking just a minute ago. It's expected to go on for an hour or so, the open statement. Then he will actually adjourn the case and for around about six months he will be reading through evidence that we have from the French investigation.
So today really is the formality, the opening and adjourning of the inquest. Later on this afternoon, he will be opening a separate inquiry into the death of Dodi Al Fayed, Diana Princess of Wales' companion in that fatal car crash.
Now, just about half an hour ago, Mohammed Al Fayed, the father of Dodi and also the owner of the department store Harrad's, arrived to the inquest to hear that opening statement by the coroner.
So we're expecting this to go on for some time. It's going to take Michael Burgess up to six months just to read the 6,000 documents from -- the 300 witness statements that he has from the French investigation. It's inevitable that this could last at least a year -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Well, Paula, is any new information involved in this or is this just information they've already gathered from the Paris investigation?
HANCOCKS: Well, Carol, that's what he'll be looking at to start with. That French investigation went on for two years and they decided that it was the fault of Henri Paul, the driver, who they said was under the influence of alcohol when he crashed.
Experts I've been speaking to say that it's unlikely the London inquiry is going to find any different idea of why that fatal crash occurred. They will be -- he will be able to call any witnesses he wants, the coroner to the queen's household, after that six months when he's decided exactly what the French investigation found. He's expected to call maybe the former butler of Diana, Paul Burrell, of course; possibly Mohammed Al Fayed. We don't know who he's going to call at the moment. But he will be doing his own investigation, as well.
But, of course, two years worth of investigation he's going to have to go through. That's going to take some time.
COSTELLO: I can see that.
Paul Hancocks reporting live from London for us.
Thank you.
You can read a special report on Diana and her case on our Web site. Just click onto cnn.com, AOL keyword: CNN.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired January 6, 2004 - 05:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Let's get more now on the inquest into the death of Princess Diana.
Let's head live to London and Paul Hancocks -- good morning, Paula.
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.
Well, as we speak, that inquest is going to be opened by the coroner to the queen's household, Michael Burgess. He started speaking just a minute ago. It's expected to go on for an hour or so, the open statement. Then he will actually adjourn the case and for around about six months he will be reading through evidence that we have from the French investigation.
So today really is the formality, the opening and adjourning of the inquest. Later on this afternoon, he will be opening a separate inquiry into the death of Dodi Al Fayed, Diana Princess of Wales' companion in that fatal car crash.
Now, just about half an hour ago, Mohammed Al Fayed, the father of Dodi and also the owner of the department store Harrad's, arrived to the inquest to hear that opening statement by the coroner.
So we're expecting this to go on for some time. It's going to take Michael Burgess up to six months just to read the 6,000 documents from -- the 300 witness statements that he has from the French investigation. It's inevitable that this could last at least a year -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Well, Paula, is any new information involved in this or is this just information they've already gathered from the Paris investigation?
HANCOCKS: Well, Carol, that's what he'll be looking at to start with. That French investigation went on for two years and they decided that it was the fault of Henri Paul, the driver, who they said was under the influence of alcohol when he crashed.
Experts I've been speaking to say that it's unlikely the London inquiry is going to find any different idea of why that fatal crash occurred. They will be -- he will be able to call any witnesses he wants, the coroner to the queen's household, after that six months when he's decided exactly what the French investigation found. He's expected to call maybe the former butler of Diana, Paul Burrell, of course; possibly Mohammed Al Fayed. We don't know who he's going to call at the moment. But he will be doing his own investigation, as well.
But, of course, two years worth of investigation he's going to have to go through. That's going to take some time.
COSTELLO: I can see that.
Paul Hancocks reporting live from London for us.
Thank you.
You can read a special report on Diana and her case on our Web site. Just click onto cnn.com, AOL keyword: CNN.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
