19 February 2008 - Afternoon session
1 Tuesday, 19th February 2008
2 (2.00 pm)
3 (Jury present)
4 LORD JUSTICE SCOTT BAKER: Members of the jury, I understand
5 that one of your number has to attend a family funeral
6 next Wednesday. In consequence, we will not be sitting
7 next Wednesday. We are not, in any event, sitting on
8 Monday of next week. What we will be doing is sitting
9 on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, and efforts have been
10 made to re-accommodate the witnesses who were coming on
11 Wednesday, and that, I think, has been possible on
12 Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. But it will mean an
13 earlier start on each of those days, so we will be
14 starting at half past 9, and we may or may not have to
15 go on a bit later in the evening, but that remains to be
16 seen. I hope that is the best solution to the problem.
17 MR HOUGH: Sir, a less dramatic day's evidence this
18 afternoon. We begin with two statements of witnesses to
19 the journey, which are to be read by agreement of
20 the parties.
21 LORD JUSTICE SCOTT BAKER: These are Mr Bouzid and
22 Mr Redjil; is that right?
23 MR HOUGH: That is right, sir.
24 LORD JUSTICE SCOTT BAKER: Although I do not think I have
25 made any formal announcement in court that it was
1
1 proposed to read their evidence as uncontroversial, this
2 has, in fact, been circulated by email and I think it is
3 the position that there is no disagreement.
4 MR HOUGH: That is correct. I think a formal statement is
5 required, but I think what has passed between us
6 probably serves as that formal statement.
7 LORD JUSTICE SCOTT BAKER: Thank you. They can be read
8 then.
9 Statement of BELKACEM BOUZID (read)
10 "We were chatting, when all of a sudden I heard
11 a loud screeching of brakes followed by two very loud
12 bangs, the second even louder than the first, coming
13 from the direction of the Alma Tunnel, some 20 metres
14 away. I immediately realised that it was a serious
15 accident.
16 "The hooter was stuck on and was sounding
17 continuously.
18 "I ran with Mustapha in the direction of the tunnel.
19 I jumped over the low wall and then got a general view
20 of the scene in the tunnel: there was a large Mercedes
21 motor car with massive frontal damage and with smoke
22 coming out of the radiator. It had come to a stop
23 facing against the direction of the traffic, with its
24 front on the Place de la Concorde side.
25 "I rushed over to the crashed vehicle and, when
2
1 I got there I immediately saw that the driver was
2 crushed inside...
3 "I saw the front seat passenger ..."
4 He then goes on to describe him, being:
5 "... held in place by the safety belt, slumped over
6 the airbag. I saw that he was trapped inside
7 the vehicle and that it was impossible to get his door
8 open, and that therefore, it was best not to touch him.
9 "In the rear I saw a man aged around 40 ... and
10 I could see straightaway that he was dead.
11 "Alongside him, between the front right-hand side
12 seat and the rear seat, I could see the curled-up figure
13 of a blonde lady. She had a wound to her forehead and
14 the bracelet of her watch was undone. She was moaning
15 and said a few words in English, 'my God, my God',
16 I think ... Her shoes were still on her feet.
17 "I tried to open the lady's door with my friend
18 Mustapha, but we could not get it open.
19 "We were the first ones to try to open one of the
20 car's doors, that one being the one that looked to me
21 the easiest to open, but which nevertheless turned out
22 to be stubborn.
23 "I should add that when I went into the tunnel, at
24 the same time as I saw the crashed car, I also saw
25 flashes from cameras coming from the back of the car.
3
1 I was surprised, but nevertheless not unduly concerned
2 because I thought that the emergency services were
3 already there.
4 "However, on approaching the car I saw that there
5 were just photographers, four in number.
6 "As I tried to get the car door open, I asked one of
7 the photographers, specifically the fattest one among
8 them, who was near the car, what I should do.
9 "This fat photographer, who was taking focused shots
10 of the car, replied: 'Don't touch anything,
11 it's Princess Diana, she's with Dodi'.
12 "I then asked him again, 'What shall I do, what
13 shall I do?'.
14 "The fat photographer told me to get all the cars
15 back, which is what I did with Mustapha.
16 "In fact, whilst we were by the car, vehicles
17 arrived from the direction of Place de la Concorde and
18 a traffic jam started forming in the underpass.
19 "Reply to question ..." --
20 MR KEEN: I wonder sir, I hate to interrupt my learned
21 friend, but there is just one point, if I might be
22 permitted.
23 This witness's evidence was read out on Day 23,
24 12th November 2007, and I wondered if in fact what was
25 being read out was perhaps a supplementary statement,
4
1 but I am following it word for word on the transcript
2 for that date.
3 Now, it does gain something with emphasis, and
4 I appreciate the force of the evidence that was given,
5 but I wonder if in fact it is necessary for it to be
6 read again. I may have misunderstood this. As I say,
7 I thought initially there was a separate statement, and
8 I notice that Mr Redjil also was read out on
9 12th November.
10 LORD JUSTICE SCOTT BAKER: I wondered about this because
11 when I went back to the statements, I noticed that they
12 were marked in a way which suggested that they had been
13 read, but then I could not find them when I was looking
14 for them.
15 MR KEEN: I see your point, sir. It is just, going through
16 as we read it, it seemed familiar and we have checked
17 the transcript. I wonder if a further check could be
18 made on that point. I am told Redjil is page 92 on
19 the same day.
20 MR HOUGH: It appears that my learned friend is absolutely
21 right. It appears that this is a mistake, that these
22 statements have already been read and that he has picked
23 it up, unlike those who have dealt with all of the
24 correspondence over the last week or two. So it is
25 a simple error.
5
1 LORD JUSTICE SCOTT BAKER: I must say, I was puzzled, but
2 I could not find it when I looked. But for Mr Keen,
3 these inquests could go on --
4 MR KEEN: I am not necessarily opposed to that.
5 MR HOUGH: We are grateful that for his assistance and
6 efficiency, but it does not he has stored up some time
7 to spare for himself.
8 Can I move on, sir, to a statement which certainly
9 has not been read and which was notified on
10 6th February, page 72 of the transcript, as unlikely to
11 be disputed. It is a statement of Detective Sergeant
12 Easton, dated 30th January 2008, concerning what has
13 been referred to from the opening onwards as
14 the "Leopard print swimsuit photograph".
15 Perhaps while this statement is read, the photograph
16 and a close-up of the photograph could be shown on
17 screen.
18 As I said, this is a statement of Detective Sergeant
19 Philip Easton.
20 Statement of DETECTIVE SERGEANT PHILIP EASTON (read)
21 MR HOUGH: "Further to pregnancy allegations made at the
22 inquests into the deaths of Diana, Princess of Wales,
23 and Dodi Al Fayed, HM Coroner the Honourable Lord
24 Justice Scott Baker has asked that Operation Paget make
25 inquiries to ascertain the provenance and date of
6
1 a photograph of Diana, Princess of Wales, in an
2 animal-print swimsuit, standing next to
3 HRH Prince William.
4 "Inquiries made in the UK have led me to speak to
5 M Remy Le Morvan, director of the Nice office of the
6 French photographic agency 'Max PPP'.
7 "During a series of telephone conversations and
8 email communications, M Le Morvan has informed me that
9 this photograph does in fact form part of Max PPP back
10 catalogue.
11 "On examining his archives, M Le Morvan was able to
12 inform me that 'This series of photographs with this
13 swimsuit are dated 13th July 1997 in our archives. They
14 were probably taken on this same day, but at the latest,
15 on the 12th'.
16 "I attach to this statement the supporting email
17 received from M Le Morvan. The content of this email
18 was also confirmed to me over the telephone.
19 M Le Movant confirming that the photograph was either
20 taken on 13th July 1997 or 12th July 1997.
21 "I asked M Le Morvan if he could give me the details
22 of the photographer. He was reluctant to provide this
23 information to me without first consulting with
24 the photographer. I agreed to wait while he attempted
25 to contact the photographer.
7
1 "On Wednesday 30th January 2008, I spoke with
2 M Le Morvan who informed me that despite numerous
3 attempts to contact him, by both telephone and email,
4 he had been unsuccessful at reaching the photographer
5 concerned. He agreed at this time to provide me with
6 the name of the photographer, and informed me that this
7 was a man called Jean-Louis Macault. He informed me
8 that this photographer had been working for the Angeli
9 agency, but that to his understanding this company had
10 folded.
11 "M Le Morvan, out of professional courtesy, is
12 unwilling to provide me with M Macault's contact
13 details, but has agreed to continue trying to contact
14 him on my behalf, and has assured me that he will
15 contact me as soon as he has been in touch."
16 That is the statement of Detective Sergeant Easton.
17 LORD JUSTICE SCOTT BAKER: There is a certificate to be put
18 in, is there not?
19 MR HOUGH: That is the next matter. The photograph can come
20 off the screen, thank you.
21 This is a certificate of physical and mental
22 fitness. It is signed by Dr Diane Beaulieu d'Ivernois
23 and it is [INQ0006872]. Perhaps we can have that on the
24 screen.
25
8
1 Certificate of DR DIANE BEAULIEU D'IVERNOIS (read)
2 MR HOUGH: This is formally a statement to be introduced
3 under Rule 37, but it is merely a certificate that has
4 been signed by a doctor which has been referred to as
5 a certificate signed at the end of a medical examination
6 of Henri Paul in August of 1997 concerning his fitness
7 to fly.
8 As will be seen, it is a certificate headed,
9 "Ministry of Procurement, Transport and Tourism, Civil
10 Aviation Authority, authorised doctor, certificate of
11 physical and mental fitness", and it reads:
12 "I the undersigned, Dr Diane Beaulieu d'Ivernois
13 [and she gives her authorisation number] ... certify
14 that M Henri Paul [giving his address and date of birth]
15 ... fulfils the conditions of physical and mental
16 fitness required of non-professional pilots."
17 Then there are two special conditions, "limited
18 validity (for medical reasons only)" and then there is
19 no entry after that, and then "Possible restrictions to
20 be shown on the licence" are "Glasses must be worn for
21 distance work". It is dated "Paris, 28th August 1997".
22 It is signed by Dr Beaulieu d'Ivernois and then there
23 are two standard notes at the end.
24 The next entirely procedural matter is that, again,
25 reference was made on 6th February to evidence from
9
1 Inspector Carpenter just formally to prove his timeline
2 that he prepared of the movements of the bodyguards
3 which was used by everybody during --
4 LORD JUSTICE SCOTT BAKER: We have seen it already.
5 MR HOUGH: We have seen it. It has gone into the jury
6 bundle under tab 3(vi). He can be called if my learned
7 friends require, but otherwise perhaps it can be simply
8 recorded that that timeline is proved by
9 Inspector Carpenter.
10 LORD JUSTICE SCOTT BAKER: Does it require formal proof?
11 MR MANSFIELD: Sir, I am so sorry, I had not appreciated.
12 No, it does not require formal proof. I would
13 appreciate an opportunity -- I do not suggest now -- to
14 ask Mr Carpenter some questions, but it does not require
15 proof.
16 LORD JUSTICE SCOTT BAKER: It is probably the best time to
17 do it now because we are going to have time to spare.
18 MR MANSFIELD: Could we have a moment to liaise about that,
19 but yes, I understand the point.
20 MR HOUGH: Perhaps then, before my learned friend asks those
21 questions, my learned friend Mr Hilliard has a witness,
22 Detective Sergeant Easton, to deal with the matters that
23 were left over in relation to the Andanson suicide
24 dossier.
25 MR HILLIARD: So, sir, if we can have Mr Easton back? He
10
1 has looked at the French dossier, as he said he would.
2 He can give us the results of those inquiries.
3 DETECTIVE SERGEANT PHILIP EASTON (recalled)
4 Questions from MR HILLIARD
5 MR HILLIARD: I am sure it is sufficient if you are reminded
6 that you have already taken the oath.
7 A. Yes, thank you.
8 Q. Do you remember when you gave evidence last time about
9 the Andanson police dossier in France or the French one,
10 you said that you would just look at it again to see if
11 you could answer some particular questions that
12 Mr Mansfield asked you?
13 A. That is correct, sir, yes.
14 Q. I think you have done that.
15 A. Yes, I hope so.
16 Q. If we can go through them one by one. First of all, do
17 you remember that he asked you whether anybody had
18 apparently considered, in the French investigation,
19 whether Mr Andanson was preparing for a meeting in which
20 he thought that he might not come out of it alive? Do
21 you remember the question you were asked?
22 A. Yes.
23 Q. What you discovered was this, is this right, that in
24 a letter written to the investigating magistrate by
25 a lawyer representing Mr Al Fayed, it said this, is this
11
1 right? So Mr Al Fayed's lawyer had written to
2 the examining magistrate saying that it was the lawyer's
3 understanding from the investigation that was going on
4 that the relevant police force and forensic department,
5 and I am quoting, "do not appear to be completely
6 discounting the hypothesis of a criminal act".
7 A. Yes, that is correct.
8 Q. Having said that, is this right, the particular question
9 that Mr Mansfield put to you, had anybody in the French
10 investigation been considering that Mr Andanson was
11 going to a meeting where he thought he might be killed,
12 there is no question in those terms, is that right?
13 A. No, nothing is mentioned to that effect.
14 Q. But is this right, they did identify the whereabouts of
15 his mobile telephone which had been left at home?
16 A. Yes.
17 Q. So if he was going to a meeting where he thought he
18 might be killed, he had left his telephone behind?
19 A. They conducted a number of inquiries on the telephone.
20 Q. But the physical presence of the telephone was at his
21 home, correct, in his office?
22 A. Yes.
23 Q. Then, as you say, in addition, they had looked into his
24 life as far as they could, is that right?
25 A. Yes.
12
1 Q. And had made inquiries into his finances, telephones,
2 diaries, family and friends. You note that they had
3 discovered that he had not got any encrypted files on
4 his computer, is that right?
5 A. Yes, they went to those notes, even with his computer,
6 to find out what he was doing and when.
7 Q. I am going to leave out a question that has been dealt
8 with by other evidence, but you were asked whether there
9 was any sign of inquiries being made at the garage where
10 fuel, if I can put it that way, had been bought, whether
11 there had been a cashier on duty or whether the payment
12 had been made to a machine. There is no sign of
13 inquiries of that kind or the result in the file, is
14 that right?
15 A. That is correct, yes.
16 Q. Then, similarly, is this right, Mr Mansfield asked you
17 if there was any indication on the file as to whether
18 the petrol tank of the car had been checked as to what
19 the level of the fuel was?
20 A. No, there was no reference to the petrol tank in
21 the report.
22 Q. I think he also asked you if you would check whether
23 there was any indication in the dossier that there had
24 been a search of the area and, in particular, whether
25 anybody was looking for footprints.
13
1 A. That is correct, yes.
2 Q. Now, did the word -- whatever the French word for
3 "footprints" is, did that appear at all?
4 A. No, it did not.
5 Q. What did appear to have been done?
6 A. We heard, when I last gave evidence on the same day,
7 Mr Lauzun, who was one of the initial investigating
8 officers, explain that no search for traces or indices
9 were effected in the proximity of the area of the fire,
10 and that was in fact in one of his reports in the French
11 dossier.
12 Q. That was, as it were, in the dark when he first got
13 there?
14 A. Yes, that report was written on the day the fire and
15 the body were discovered.
16 Now, footprints are never mentioned in the French
17 suicide file, but on looking further, Mr Lauzun had
18 arranged for a single route in and out of where
19 the incident was. On the next day, experts from
20 the Criminal Research Institute of the Gendarmerie
21 Nationale, the environment, fire and explosives section,
22 attended the scene, summonsed by the investigating
23 magistrate, and made an examination before the body was
24 removed from the vehicle. In their report, they state:
25 "Finally, it should be noted that at a level of the
14
1 site, no indices susceptible to be linked to criminal
2 action."
3 That suggests that they have had a look at the site
4 and there is nothing evident that could be linked to
5 a criminal act.
6 Q. Right. I am not going to ask you about the next passage
7 in the dossier, but then you were asked whether
8 the words "molten plastic" were mentioned in the report
9 at all. I think the answer to that is that they are
10 not, as far as you could see.
11 A. That is right. I could not find "molten plastic" in
12 the report.
13 Q. But did the same team of experts that you have
14 mentioned -- so this is experts from the environment,
15 fire and explosives sections, did those same experts
16 say -- and this is a quote, I think, "Various residues
17 burnt to a cinder are strewn over the floor of the
18 interior and the boot"?
19 A. Yes, that is correct.
20 Q. I think you actually have the photographs that are in
21 the French dossier there; is that right? I think you
22 have managed to sort them so that those photographs that
23 have the body visible in them, you have separated out.
24 A. Yes, I have taken those out.
25 Q. But these colour ones are better than the ones we tried
15
1 to look at on the screen, is that right?
2 A. Yes. When we went down to Millau, the judge there was
3 kind enough to have the negatives of the photographs
4 taken at the time reprinted, so these are those.
5 Q. Is it right that it is apparent from the photographs
6 that glass, windscreen glass, has actually melted in
7 the heat of the fire?
8 A. Yes.
9 Q. What is going to be the best way to look at the
10 photographs, Mr Easton? Can we try to put them under
11 the camera first of all?
12 A. Yes, if Mr Foley is kind enough.
13 Q. If you put them on in the order that they are in and
14 then you can say what they are, if it is not obvious.
15 A. I think we have seen some of these before in black and
16 white, but they were not as clear as these.
17 (Photographs shown)
18 Q. That is the same one as last time, but it is a much
19 better picture.
20 A. Yes. I think already we can see some of the glass that
21 has melted, but it is clearer in other pictures.
22 Q. If we move up, we can see the picture that is below
23 that. All right, same again, really.
24 A. Yes.
25 Q. Next ones, please. That is similar to the last one.
16
1 If we can see the one below that? Thank you.
2 A. I have actually visited the scene, and albeit that
3 it was three years ago, quite a while since the fire,
4 the local vegetation still has not recovered and
5 the trees are still burnt.
6 Q. Thank you.
7 A. This is a lot clearer than the black and white copy
8 we saw last time. This is the window etching that is
9 mentioned in the report from which they managed to
10 identify the registration number of the vehicle and then
11 trace it back to Mr Andanson's home.
12 LORD JUSTICE SCOTT BAKER: We can see the letters AS, can
13 you, and 2?
14 A. Yes, I think we lose clarity then, sir.
15 Ah, there we are, "AS26660".
16 MR HILLIARD: Yes, thank you.
17 That gives us a much clearer idea of the damage that
18 has been done.
19 A. And again, the glass has melted from the heat of
20 the fire.
21 Q. Whereabouts are we in the car in that one?
22 A. I believe -- it is difficult. I believe that is
23 the rear seat or where the rear seat would be in
24 a normal vehicle.
25 LORD JUSTICE SCOTT BAKER: Presumably at some point during
17
1 the fire, the fuel in the tank would have exploded?
2 A. I do not know about that, sir. I am not an expert.
3 It is not something that is mentioned in the report
4 either. I cannot help you with that. Sorry, sir.
5 LORD JUSTICE SCOTT BAKER: At any rate, you don't imagine
6 that there was a tank full of fuel after all this?
7 A. Well, it was an intense heat, from the damage to the
8 vehicle and the vegetation around it.
9 MR HILLIARD: Thank you very much.
10 LORD JUSTICE SCOTT BAKER: Mr Mansfield?
11 MR MANSFIELD: Yes, only a couple of questions.
12 Questions from MR MANSFIELD
13 MR MANSFIELD: Just following the learned Coroner's
14 question, you have answered the one I originally asked:
15 was the tank in the car ever checked. The answer, from
16 what you say, is that of course as far as you can see in
17 the French dossier, the fuel tank was not checked for
18 any purpose?
19 A. There is no mention of the fuel tank in the French
20 dossier, so I cannot say other ways, sir.
21 Q. From what you can glean, it appears that the fire was
22 concentrated towards the front of the vehicle rather
23 than the rear?
24 A. From the reports, they believe that the accelerant was
25 in the front of the vehicle.
18
1 Q. Well, it is in the front footwell.
2 A. Yes, sir.
3 Q. And we heard that before. I do not go over that ground
4 again. There was only one other question and that is
5 this: it arises out of what he had with him. Does it
6 appear, looking at it globally, that he in fact only had
7 one item with him that could identify him, namely
8 a credit card of some kind?
9 A. Sorry, I do not understand your question, sir.
10 When you say "identify" him, do you mean
11 identification of the body after death or --
12 Q. No. So sorry. I do not mean, obviously, looking at
13 teeth or whatever, but what I mean is he has not got
14 a mobile with him, he does not have a wallet with him.
15 A. He has left those behind.
16 Q. Yes, so it is that kind of thing. There is nothing, on
17 the face of it, that he has taken with him that might
18 lead to his identification, save one card?
19 A. From the report, that is as much as we can tell, that is
20 correct.
21 MR MANSFIELD: Yes, thank you.
22 LORD JUSTICE SCOTT BAKER: He was in fact, I think,
23 identified from DNA --
24 A. Yes.
25 LORD JUSTICE SCOTT BAKER: And they had dental records which
19
1 they did not need to use because they had the DNA.
2 A. No, but he had a dental bridge that was in the vehicle
3 which they could have identified him from as well, sir.
4 That is correct.
5 LORD JUSTICE SCOTT BAKER: Mr Keen?
6 MR KEEN: No, sir.
7 LORD JUSTICE SCOTT BAKER: Mr Croxford?
8 MR CROXFORD: No thank you, sir.
9 Questions from MR HORWELL
10 MR HORWELL: He was obviously identified straightaway
11 through the fact that this was his car, Mr Easton.
12 A. Yes. Inquiries were made from the etching in the
13 windscreen and his wife was contacted --
14 Q. This is the Andanson family car, precisely in whose name
15 whether it is Mr or Mrs, the car was --
16 A. I believe, by recollection, it was registered in his
17 company's name --
18 Q. All right?
19 A. -- but back to his home address, yes.
20 Q. It is the Andanson family car, in which his body was
21 found.
22 A. That is correct.
23 MR HILLIARD: Thank you very much.
24 LORD JUSTICE SCOTT BAKER: Thank you very much,
25 Sergeant Easton.
20
1 MR HILLIARD: The link is at 4.00 pm, sir, so there is
2 a large gap, I am afraid.
3 LORD JUSTICE SCOTT BAKER: What about the outstanding
4 matter?
5 MR MANSFIELD: We have just had a chat. So that it is
6 clear, the questions really relate more to the movements
7 of Henri Paul than just the bodyguards.
8 We are not entirely clear, but there was a DVD
9 produced, I think, about Henri Paul's movements. It is
10 not in the jury's bundle; at least it is not in
11 the index I have for the jury's bundle. I have just had
12 an update. It is not there.
13 The questions I have really relate to Henri Paul and
14 obviously overlap with the movements of the bodyguards
15 but they are questions that arise out of his movements
16 rather than their movements.
17 So, can I defer it until we see what has happened
18 and whether that is going to be produced in that form?
19 LORD JUSTICE SCOTT BAKER: Yes. We have Inspector Carpenter
20 here and we have an hour and a half spare time, if
21 we can do anything now.
22 MR HOUGH: It may be that if we have a break, that
23 the timeline and the DVD can be brought up.
24 LORD JUSTICE SCOTT BAKER: I am quite keen to use up
25 the time, members of the jury, if we can, because an
21
1 hour or half an hour now could be an hour or half an
2 hour when we would have finished.
3 MR HOUGH: Sir, I am told, and I believe we have to be fair
4 to Inspector Carpenter, that he had not prepared for
5 the production of that.
6 LORD JUSTICE SCOTT BAKER: No.
7 MR HOUGH: It has obviously been produced in that it has
8 been made but it has never been formally put before
9 the jury as far as I know and he is simply not in
10 a position to answer the sort of detailed questions that
11 will inevitably be put without doing some preparation
12 overnight.
13 MR MANSFIELD: If it would help, so that time is not being
14 wasted --
15 LORD JUSTICE SCOTT BAKER: We could play it now?
16 MR MANSFIELD: Well, I do not know whether it is here even,
17 but I am very happy to spend some time just telling
18 Mr Carpenter what the issues are, so that he can prepare
19 for it and it can be played at some stage.
20 I thought that was the case, that it has not
21 actually been played and there is no timeline in
22 the jury bundle. I do not have it with me at
23 the moment. I am not saying I was not provided with it,
24 but I do not know quite where it is at the moment.
25 LORD JUSTICE SCOTT BAKER: Yes. Well, I think the best
22
1 thing we can do is to break off until 4 o'clock, unless
2 there is something likely to happen?
3 MR HORWELL: Mr Carpenter is understandably reluctant to go
4 into the witness box now, not having prepared this
5 topic. That must be right, in my submission.
6 LORD JUSTICE SCOTT BAKER: Absolutely, yes.
7 MR HORWELL: There is no lack of will on his part to help
8 the inquest if he can, but not this afternoon, I am
9 afraid.
10 LORD JUSTICE SCOTT BAKER: I do not know whether there is
11 any mileage in Mr Mansfield and Mr Carpenter having
12 a few words together?
13 MR HORWELL: Let's try, and of course if we can reach
14 an accord, we will do so.
15 LORD JUSTICE SCOTT BAKER: What we will do, members of
16 the jury, is we will break off now and we will certainly
17 start again at 4 o'clock. I dare say you will probably
18 be in your room downstairs, will you, in the mean time?
19 So if anything happens earlier, we will send a message
20 down.
21 (2.37 pm)
22 (A break)
23 (4.00 pm)
24 (Jury present)
25 LORD JUSTICE SCOTT BAKER: Miss Henning, can you hear us
23
1 over here?
2 A. Yes, I can.
3 LORD JUSTICE SCOTT BAKER: Thank you. I am the Coroner.
4 You are going to be asked some questions in a moment or
5 two by Mr Hough, who will introduce himself.
6 A. Okay.
7 MR HOUGH: Perhaps the witness could take the oath now.
8 MISS MELISSA HENNING (affirmed)
9 Questions from MR HOUGH
10 MR HOUGH: Is your name Melissa Henning?
11 A. Yes, it is.
12 Q. My name is Jonathan Hough and, as the Coroner indicated,
13 I will be asking you questions first on his behalf.
14 A. Okay.
15 Q. And as you will probably have gathered, there is
16 a slight delay between your answers coming through and
17 us hearing them and vice versa.
18 A. Yes.
19 Q. Now we will deal with the details of your employment in
20 a moment, but I think that, in broad terms, you were
21 Dodi Al Fayed's assistant in California; is that right?
22 A. That is correct.
23 Q. You have given two statements I think, both to
24 representatives of Mr Al Fayed and/or the Paul family,
25 one in December 2007, the other in January of this year?
24
1 A. Yes.
2 Q. Do you have those two statements with you?
3 A. I am sorry?
4 Q. Do you have those two statements with you now?
5 A. Yes, I do.
6 Q. Have you ever given any other interviews to the media or
7 to anybody else about the matters that you deal with in
8 those statements?
9 A. No.
10 Q. In those statements you are recalling events from over
11 ten years ago which have never previously been recorded
12 and which you have never previously given interviews
13 about. Is that right?
14 A. That is correct.
15 Q. Now this is a question that we are asking generally of
16 witnesses: have you received in the past or do you
17 expect to receive in the future any payment for your
18 account of events?
19 A. No, I have not received any payment. I was offered many
20 opportunities to do so and declined --
21 Q. By the media?
22 A. Correct, and publishers.
23 Q. Dealing with your employment, I think that you were
24 employed by Mr Al Fayed's film production company from
25 September 1989.
25
1 A. Yes.
2 Q. Your job title changed over that period, but you worked
3 closely at all times with Dodi Al Fayed up until his
4 death?
5 A. That is correct.
6 Q. Now, your duties I think were not confined to film
7 production. We have already heard evidence from
8 somebody called Myriah Daniels that she was sometimes
9 asked by you to travel to provide her services for
10 Mr Al Fayed.
11 A. Correct.
12 Q. And I think, is this right, in general terms you dealt
13 with logistics for Dodi Al Fayed on the US side of
14 things?
15 A. That is correct.
16 Q. And you would be informed of any specific plans he had
17 in the US?
18 A. Absolutely.
19 Q. Just to be clear, what jobs have you held since
20 Mr Al Fayed's death in August of 1997?
21 A. I continued to work, while the company remained open on
22 the continental United States, for Dodi's father in
23 the capacity of junior vice-president of Allied Stars.
24 Mohamed Al Fayed closed the company in the United
25 States, I believe it was around June of 2004, at which
26
1 time I became a consultant to the film industry, working
2 as a private consultant.
3 Q. While you have been working as a private consultant,
4 have you done any work for Mr Al Fayed Senior or his
5 businesses?
6 A. No. Nothing whatsoever.
7 Q. Thank you. Over the years that you worked with and for
8 Dodi Al Fayed, I think you became friends with him.
9 A. That is correct, yes.
10 Q. Is this correct, that you and your boyfriend used to
11 socialise with him as well as working with him?
12 A. Yes.
13 Q. So you obviously would have been aware of his personal
14 relationships, his girlfriends and so on?
15 A. Usually, yes.
16 Q. Now, there has been a well-publicised relationship
17 we have heard about with somebody called Kelly Fisher.
18 Do you remember her?
19 A. I do.
20 Q. She has given evidence that that relationship started in
21 the summer of 1996, about a year before Dodi's death.
22 Is that right or wrong, as far as you know?
23 A. As far as I can recollect, it would be either in the
24 summer or in the fall of 1996. I am not 100 per cent
25 sure.
27
1 Q. Again, we have heard evidence that that relationship
2 lasted certainly until the early to mid-part of
3 July 1997. Again is that something you know about or
4 not?
5 A. Yes, I am aware of that.
6 Q. Were you also aware of Mr Al Fayed flying to
7 Kelly Fisher's sister's wedding? That is something that
8 she has talked about.
9 A. I am vaguely aware of that, however I could not provide
10 a date.
11 Q. Now, Kelly Fisher has given evidence that she and
12 Dodi Al Fayed were engaged and that she received an
13 engagement ring in February of 1997. Some other
14 witnesses have given different evidence, for example one
15 of the bodyguards, John Johnson, has given evidence that
16 he heard about it; Mr Dourneau, Dodi Al Fayed's driver,
17 initially described Miss Fisher as "Dodi Al Fayed's
18 fiancee", but then there was some doubt about
19 the translation; and then some other people, like
20 Rene Delorm, have disagreed and said that there
21 certainly was not an engagement. Is that something that
22 you can comment on?
23 A. I can comment on this. My knowledge comes directly from
24 Dodi. Dodi had never claimed that they were engaged to
25 be married, however, that said, Kelly Fisher, from
28
1 approximately February on, continued to say publicly
2 that they were engaged. There were several occasions
3 where Dodi would ask her not to say that publicly and he
4 told me himself that they were not engaged, in fact.
5 Q. Now, dealing with your understanding of Dodi, in the
6 first witness statement that you produced, you deal with
7 his character in paragraph 4. You describe him as
8 a "shy, polite and courteous man", and that is something
9 that we have heard from other witnesses. Is that
10 a broadly accurate account of him as a person?
11 A. Yes, it is.
12 Q. Now, Kelly Fisher has given evidence that Dodi Al Fayed
13 was sometimes rude to his staff specifically. Is that
14 right or wrong?
15 A. I worked for him for quite a long time and most of his
16 staff remained with him for a very long time. Certainly
17 I never felt that he was rude. In fact, he was always
18 saying "Please" and "Thank you" and was one of the most
19 polite bosses that I had ever encountered. I had never
20 seen him abuse his staff in any way. In fact, most of
21 them I think genuinely liked him.
22 Q. Now we have heard from other witnesses that
23 Dodi Al Fayed was not used to having the interest of the
24 paparazzi focused on him. Is that right?
25 A. That is correct.
29
1 Q. We have heard from one of the bodyguards who was with
2 him in the last month of his life, Kes Wingfield, that
3 he became more volatile when under pressure from
4 the paparazzi. Is that something that you know about at
5 all?
6 A. He discussed the paparazzi with me a few times. He was
7 certainly annoyed by them. He felt they were intrusive,
8 certainly. When he was in Los Angeles two weeks or so
9 prior to the accident, they were following him here. He
10 did not, however, seem completely unnerved by it. He
11 thought they were an annoyance, yes.
12 Q. We have heard from his butler, Rene Delorm, that on one
13 of his cruises on the Jonikal, Dodi directed the captain
14 to turn the yacht towards some much smaller paparazzi
15 boats to give them a bit of a scare. Is that something
16 that you would have thought was in or out of character
17 for Dodi?
18 A. I do not know. I cannot imagine him doing that, but
19 obviously I was not there so I am not sure that I would
20 have anything much to say that would be of importance.
21 Q. In your statement -- this is your first statement at
22 paragraph 5 -- you refer to Dodi's behaviour in cars.
23 You say that you sometimes drove him and that he tended
24 to be a cautious passenger and regularly told you to
25 slow down. Is that right?
30
1 A. Yes. I am a reasonably fast driver by nature and he did
2 not like my driving at all, so he would always be
3 telling me to slow the car down.
4 Q. We are not here to comment on your driving,
5 Miss Henning. We have heard evidence from one witness,
6 John Johnson, that Dodi Al Fayed encouraged his drivers
7 to keep moving and to use different routes to avoid
8 traffic jams and so on. Is that something you recall at
9 all?
10 A. Well, we would certainly try to avoid traffic, but
11 usually not at any excessive speed whatsoever.
12 Q. Can I move on to a new topic? That is the house in
13 Malibu previously owned by Julie Andrews that the
14 inquests have heard something about.
15 A. Yes.
16 Q. We have heard that that was purchased in the spring of
17 1997. Is that right?
18 A. That is correct.
19 Q. I think it was actually found for Dodi Al Fayed by your
20 boyfriend, who is an estate agent.
21 A. Correct.
22 Q. I think, is this right, Dodi Al Fayed expressed a wish
23 to purchase a property in California in April of 1997?
24 A. I do not remember the exact time. He was always keen on
25 purchasing a property in California.
31
1 Q. Now, Mr Mohamed Al Fayed has given evidence that Dodi's
2 reason was to establish a base for his film production
3 activities, that he wanted to buy a house in California
4 in order to have a base out there for those activities.
5 Is that something that you are aware of?
6 A. That would be Dodi's intention, I am sure.
7 Q. Now the property that was found -- we don't need to have
8 full details of it -- but it was a large family home?
9 A. Correct.
10 Q. I think, is this right, the Al Fayed family formed
11 a company which purchased the house and that purchase
12 was completed in June of 1997?
13 A. Something like that, yes.
14 Q. I think it was bought fully furnished and had in fact
15 been featured in magazines.
16 A. That is right.
17 Q. Now, Kelly Fisher says that the intention was that Dodi
18 move into the house in early August of 1997. Again, is
19 that something that you know about?
20 A. I do know about that. Dodi had had some of his
21 belongings moved in in August, correct.
22 Q. Obviously, when the initial dealings with this house
23 were going on, Dodi was still going out with
24 Kelly Fisher.
25 A. Yes, but he was also dating other women at the same
32
1 time. He was not exclusively dating Kelly Fisher.
2 Q. Was she his principal girlfriend at the time?
3 A. I would say at the time, yes, but since about February,
4 when she began discussing the engagement, he was talking
5 about not dating her much longer.
6 Q. She has given evidence that the intention was that she
7 would move into that house with Dodi Al Fayed. Can
8 we take it from your previous answers that you disagree
9 with her on that?
10 A. I do disagree with that, yes.
11 Q. We have heard evidence from somebody called Lee Sansum,
12 who was on the security staff of the Al Fayed family,
13 that a member of the Al Fayed security staff was sent
14 over to the USA in early July 1997, in the first half of
15 July 1997, to make security preparations for the house
16 or at the house for Dodi. Is that something you were
17 aware of?
18 A. Yes.
19 Q. Do you, like Mr Sansum, remember it being early
20 July 1997?
21 A. I am not 100 per cent sure, but I know that by August
22 somebody was there. I do not recall when they came.
23 Q. Now, we have been informed of a specific name of
24 somebody who came out, he thinks in late July or early
25 August, to make some security preparations, perhaps
33
1 somebody different from the person that Lee Sansum was
2 talking about, perhaps not; somebody called
3 Steven Griffiths. Do you remember that name?
4 A. Yes, I do, and I remember him arriving, I believe, in
5 early August. It could have been late July.
6 Q. Now, Kelly Fisher has given evidence that she visited
7 the Malibu house in late July of 1997 when she thought
8 that she and Dodi were still together and that security
9 denied her access. Is that an event that you were aware
10 of?
11 A. I was aware of it, yes.
12 Q. Moving on to a new topic, I think you remember
13 Dodi Al Fayed being back in California in the middle of
14 August 1997, so after he had developed a relationship
15 with the Princess of Wales.
16 A. Yes, he was back approximately mid-August.
17 Q. I think that you had dinner at his house.
18 A. I did.
19 Q. Was that just you and him?
20 A. It was just Dodi and myself, yes.
21 Q. Was that at the Malibu house that we have been talking
22 about?
23 A. Yes.
24 Q. Now during that evening I think you discussed Dodi's
25 relationship with the Princess of Wales, as was perhaps
34
1 natural.
2 A. Yes.
3 Q. During that conversation, did Dodi say that he and the
4 Princess were engaged or that he had asked the Princess
5 to marry him?
6 A. No, he did not. He discussed at length -- we discussed
7 at length their relationship, and I had always felt they
8 were a perhaps an odd coupling, and after the end of
9 the evening I understood exactly why they found so much
10 in common. But no, no discussion of engagement or
11 wedding or anything like that, but I did get a feeling
12 that they felt they were mutually into the relationship
13 and enjoying each other's company.
14 Q. So the impression you got from him was that the
15 relationship was going well and that he hoped for
16 a longer-term future with the Princess?
17 A. It was a very different conversation than I had ever had
18 with him regarding any other of his girlfriends or
19 people that he had dated, yes.
20 Q. Now, in your second witness statement -- and this is
21 paragraph 6 -- you say that Dodi, at this dinner,
22 discussed with you the possibility that the Princess
23 might come to stay at the Malibu house in the future.
24 Again, is that something you recall now?
25 A. Oh yes, yes.
35
1 Q. In that context, I think he discussed the fact that the
2 security might need upgrading because of the Princess's
3 possible presence there.
4 A. We discussed several things that would have to be
5 changed at the house. One was upgrading the security,
6 of course, and perhaps building a security outpost in
7 anticipation of her arrival, as well as upgrading
8 electronics.
9 She was expected to come out mid to late September
10 with Dodi, and at that time we were going to make
11 further changes or whatever needed to be done, whatever
12 she would like done to the house to make it more
13 comfortable for herself and for her son.
14 Q. Dealing with security, of course, there had already been
15 some security arrangements made with the arrival of
16 security staff from the Al Fayed organisation before
17 this dinner, hadn't there?
18 A. Yes, there had.
19 Q. You said that he discussed the possibility that the
20 Princess would visit in mid to late September, and you
21 have talked about the discussion about making the house
22 comfortable for her and for perhaps her son. Is it
23 right to say that you inferred from your conversation
24 that this visit would not be just a one-off visit by
25 the Princess?
36
1 A. I understood that she and he would be in a continuing
2 relationship. He was planning to spend much more time
3 in Malibu and he was expecting her to spend much more
4 time in Malibu as well.
5 Q. These were what you took away from the conversation as
6 being his intentions and his hopes, is that right?
7 A. That is correct.
8 Q. And certainly no specific dates were given for any
9 visit?
10 A. Their visit was to be mid to late September, and to me
11 it sounded like that was a firm commitment by her at
12 that point, to come out then. He definitely wanted
13 the house prepared and ready to receive her at that
14 point in time.
15 Q. I am now dealing with paragraph 6 of your first witness
16 statement. During the course of this dinner, did you
17 discuss any fears or concerns that the Princess might
18 have told Dodi about for her safety?
19 A. We discussed many of her concerns that had become his
20 concerns as well.
21 Q. What did he say she had said to him, in terms of
22 concerns?
23 A. He had -- he told me that Diana was very, very concerned
24 for personal safety. She and Dodi had discussed this
25 several times. She felt that her family, former family,
37
1 would --
2 Q. Sorry, this is the Royal Family rather than the Spencer
3 family?
4 A. The Royal Family, yes -- did not want her around
5 anymore. She felt she was a threat to them and they
6 would like to perhaps not have her around.
7 Q. Anything more specific than that?
8 A. She felt it would be an accident and that it would
9 happen only when the boys were not with her because the
10 boys would never be harmed. I at first received the
11 information with quite a bit of scepticism and thought
12 Dodi perhaps was being a little paranoid. However, he
13 seemed to believe this as well at that point. They had
14 obviously discussed it quite at length to come up with
15 this and for Dodi to believe so deeply that this could
16 be a real concern for them.
17 Q. You say in your statement that your immediate reaction
18 to this was that it was paranoia on Dodi's part?
19 A. Yes. Originally, yes, I thought it was a bit
20 far-fetched that an accident could be caused or
21 something like that that would cause -- that they would
22 try to get rid of her. She was such a public person
23 that I figured it would be a very difficult thing to
24 accomplish.
25 Q. As you say, you thought that he was taking her concerns
38
1 seriously.
2 A. I thought he took her concerns very seriously, yes.
3 Q. In your statement, you say that you mentioned this
4 conversation that you had with Dodi to his father,
5 Mohamed Al Fayed, in a telephone call some time after
6 the crash.
7 A. Yes. I do not recall exactly when I mentioned it to
8 him. It is a little bit of a blur. It was not
9 immediately after the accident because I felt that there
10 was enough going on. I felt that people were dealing
11 with grief and shock and horror and it was not
12 appropriate to bring it up until later on. So I am not
13 exactly sure when the conversation was held. It could
14 have been a few months afterwards, up to four months
15 after.
16 Q. Up to four months after, but you left communicating it
17 until you could be sure that the initial reaction would
18 have passed?
19 A. I did. I was hesitant to even mention it. However, my
20 first thought after I heard about the accident was, "Oh
21 my goodness and I was not really going to take this
22 seriously" and I thought I had best to wait until things
23 had settled down a little bit.
24 Q. You say in your statement that during the course of that
25 conversation with Mr Mohamed Al Fayed, he told you that
39
1 he was convinced that the security services were behind
2 the crash.
3 A. Yes. I believe it was in that conversation that he had
4 said that he did not feel it was simply a car accident,
5 that he felt it was staged.
6 Q. Now obviously you would have been aware that
7 investigations into this crash were going on over the
8 years in France and in Britain. They were widely
9 publicised. Is that right?
10 A. Yes, however in the United States we don't get nearly
11 the detail, of course, that is published in the UK and
12 in France.
13 Q. Yes, but you would have been aware that investigations
14 concerning the death of your friend and former employer
15 were going on for some years in France and Britain.
16 That is something that you would have been aware of,
17 even if the press was not quite as intense in the US?
18 A. Absolutely.
19 Q. Is this right, that you did not get in touch with either
20 the French police or the British police or
21 the authorities in the United States with any of this
22 information?
23 A. No, I did not.
24 Q. In fact you first gave this account, other than to
25 Mr Al Fayed, to Mr Benson, a solicitor acting on
40
1 behalf of the Paul family, who has also acted for
2 Mohamed Al Fayed in the past.
3 A. Yes.
4 Q. You first gave your account in December of last year, is
5 that right?
6 A. That is correct.
7 Q. Now can you give an explanation of this? Since you had
8 such obviously significant information, information
9 which was before anybody else had started to talk about
10 Diana's fears in the press, why didn't you think of
11 telling any of the authorities involved in the
12 investigations?
13 A. I was not involved with any of the authorities, however
14 I had presumed that Mr Mohamed Al Fayed had
15 the information and would do with it what needed to be
16 done.
17 Q. That leads me on to the next question.
18 Mr Mohamed Al Fayed has obviously been not slow to put
19 before the investigating authorities and sometimes
20 the press information which he has received. Can you
21 think of any reason why Mr Mohamed Al Fayed would not
22 pass on this obviously significant information to any of
23 the press or the investigating authorities over ten
24 years?
25 A. I would not know that. I did not know how significant
41
1 it was or if it would be something that would be of
2 interest to the investigation at all.
3 Q. Sorry, you did not know whether it would be of interest
4 to the investigation that Princess Diana had apparently
5 told Dodi Al Fayed that she would be killed in a staged
6 accident before she died? You did not think that would
7 be of interest?
8 A. I presumed that Mr Mohamed Al Fayed would do what he
9 needed to do with the information and therefore I had
10 never been in touch with any of the authorities in any
11 of the investigations.
12 Q. That is slightly different explanation, do you see? One
13 explanation is that you thought Mr Mohamed Al Fayed
14 would pass things on. The other explanation is that you
15 did not think this information would be of any interest
16 to the investigating authorities. Which was your
17 motivation?
18 A. Forgive me. Perhaps I mis-spoke. I told
19 Mr Mohamed Al Fayed because I did think it might have
20 been important. I figured he knew what was going on
21 with every aspect of the investigation, that he would do
22 what he needed to do with the information, so I did not
23 feel that it would be important for me to contact
24 anybody at that point.
25 Q. Now, you have said that Dodi Al Fayed took these
42
1 concerns or fears seriously. Were you aware whether
2 Dodi Al Fayed or his father arranged any additional
3 security or bodyguards for him and the Princess on their
4 trips together in view of these concerns?
5 A. I did not, and I was not intimately involved with any of
6 the details of his trips overseas. That would be out of
7 my realm of knowledge.
8 Q. Because certainly these inquests have heard from some
9 witnesses that bodyguards requested additional back-up
10 and in fact that that was refused. That is not
11 something that you are aware of?
12 A. I am not aware of that.
13 MR MANSFIELD: Sir, I hope it is going to be a balanced
14 picture that is being put because there are other
15 witnesses who say they were not asked.
16 MR HOUGH: I appreciate that, but I thought it was a proper
17 question to ask.
18 Moving on, I think that after this dinner Dodi
19 obviously went back to the South of France for his final
20 trip on the Jonikal; is that right?
21 A. Yes.
22 Q. We know that that trip was between 22nd and 30th August.
23 A. Yes.
24 Q. In your second witness statement -- and this is
25 paragraph 9 -- you say that you spoke to him by
43
1 telephone almost daily during that trip.
2 A. I did. I spoke to him almost daily the entire time
3 I worked for him, yes, sometimes more than once.
4 Q. Can you remember which was the last day that you spoke
5 to him? We know that he was in Paris on Saturday
6 the 30th.
7 A. I did not speak to him on the 30th. I do believe
8 I spoke to him on the day prior.
9 Q. The 29th, the Friday?
10 A. Correct.
11 Q. You say that in one of your conversations -- this is
12 what you say in your statement -- he told you that he
13 planned to ask the Princess to marry him. Is that
14 right?
15 A. He did not say that in those words. He said he was
16 going to "ask the question" and he spoke quite
17 cryptically while he was on the phone, especially when
18 he was on the boat. He was concerned about satellite
19 interception.
20 Q. Can you look at your statement? This is between
21 the first and second page:
22 "I remember one early conversation in which he said
23 quite specifically that he was definitely going to ask
24 the Princess to marry him."
25 That suggests that he said it really very clearly in
44
1 those terms; do you see that?
2 A. I was convinced that he felt that there was a very
3 long-term relationship and I was convinced at the time
4 that we had our dinner together in Malibu in mid-August.
5 At that point, I would not have been surprised, however
6 I do not believe that he ever said anything about
7 marrying Diana at that point. Subsequently, when
8 we spoke, while he was on the Jonikal, he did say that
9 he was going to "ask the question". I knew what that
10 meant and we never discussed it beyond that.
11 Q. I see. That is obviously an important conversation in
12 the context of the evidence that you were giving about
13 the dinner, is that right?
14 A. Yes.
15 Q. In your first witness statement, which you made in
16 December, you mention the dinner, but you don't mention
17 the subsequent conversation when he was on the Jonikal
18 and when he said this to you. Is there any particular
19 reason why you missed that out of your first statement?
20 A. I was actually surprised to hear from Stuart Benson, and
21 when he had called, I was not clear on exactly the
22 breadth and scope of this investigation. I assumed
23 the inquest would deal most directly with the crash
24 itself, the incidents directly preceding the crash and
25 the aftermath and did not realise that they were getting
45
1 into very personal information and that it would go into
2 such a broad scope. So, no, I only answered directly
3 the questions that were asked of me and did not
4 elaborate and go much further.
5 Q. Can you remember on which of the days that you spoke to
6 Dodi that he said that he was going to ask the question?
7 A. I cannot. I have tried and I do not recall.
8 Q. In any event, you certainly don't say in your statement
9 that he ever told you that he had asked the question or
10 that Diana had said "yes" or anything about a ring; is
11 that right?
12 A. Nothing. I know nothing about that. He said he would
13 ask the question. I did not hear whether he had done so
14 or what she had responded, if he had done so.
15 Q. So that is certainly something he did not mention on,
16 say, Friday the 29th?
17 A. No.
18 Q. But I think this is right, that he actually, during the
19 course of one of these calls, put you on the phone to
20 the Princess. Is that right?
21 A. During two of the calls, yes.
22 Q. Did he also say that you should speak to her because you
23 might be spending some time together in the future?
24 A. He did, yes.
25 Q. During the course of any these calls, did he ever ask
46
1 you to make any specific arrangements for an engagement
2 party, an engagement announcement, anything like that?
3 A. No, he did not.
4 MR HOUGH: Thank you very much. Those are my questions.
5 LORD JUSTICE SCOTT BAKER: Mr Mansfield?
6 MR MANSFIELD: Yes, thank you.
7 Questions from MR MANSFIELD
8 MR MANSFIELD: Good day. My name is Michael Mansfield and
9 I represent Mohamed Al Fayed, whose son, Dodi, you knew.
10 Just a very few questions: first of all, you
11 mentioned that you had worked for a long time with Dodi
12 and therefore you knew him reasonably well, but you did
13 not actually indicate how long. Is it right that you
14 first started working with him in 1989 or is that
15 the wrong date?
16 A. That is the correct date, September of 1989.
17 Q. Over the period of time from then, how often would you
18 see him? Can you just give the jury here in England
19 some idea of how often you would have contact with him?
20 A. Oh, every day, unless he were out of the country.
21 Q. You have been asked a little bit about his general
22 personality and character and you have given that, being
23 polite and so forth. Is it right to say he gave a very
24 caring impression to people; in other words, his
25 attitude to other people was somebody who really cared
47
1 about their well-being?
2 A. He did. He was very respectful of people and also very
3 generous and he had a very good sense of humour, but you
4 had to get to know him to find that out.
5 Q. Just a particular reason for this question.
6 Kelly Fisher suggests that when he was in a car that he
7 would -- in fact, almost every time, it was not just now
8 and again -- every time he gets in a car, he would start
9 yelling at the driver and also request the driver to
10 break the law; in other words, drive very fast, drive in
11 the wrong lane and so on. Did you ever see anything
12 like that in the time that you were with him?
13 A. I was the subject of his badgering in the car, however
14 it was almost entirely to slow down or to watch for this
15 car or that car that is coming in the other direction.
16 It was more often to be cautious than to do anything
17 else.
18 Q. Now you indicated that you were aware that Kelly Fisher
19 went to the Malibu premises but was denied access. Do
20 you remember? You just were asked that minutes ago.
21 A. Yes.
22 Q. Can you help us a little more? Do you happen to know
23 why she was denied access?
24 A. Dodi had called me to warn me that she might call me
25 after she was turned away from the house, and he told me
48
1 that she was not supposed to be out there, that he was
2 no longer seeing her at that point in time.
3 Q. Now, just moving on: you were then asked about the
4 occasion when you had dinner together and you got to
5 know more about the relationship that he was having with
6 Diana and you indicated that it was very different to
7 any relationship you had seen before in his case. Then
8 you added this, that you recognised exactly what it was
9 they had in common. Could you help us? What was it
10 that you recognised from your conversation with Dodi
11 that they appeared to have in common?
12 A. I think they shared a lot of commonalities. One was
13 their sense of humour seemed to match quite closely,
14 also their perspective of the world, how they felt,
15 politics, the arts, they both had a passion for movies.
16 At that point in time Dodi had alluded to a film project
17 that the Princess was involved in, however it was very,
18 very secret at that point in time.
19 Q. Was the nature of the project spelled out to you or not?
20 A. At that point it was not, except that he had said that
21 I would be finding out about it soon, and I ultimately
22 found about it much later when Kevin Costner was
23 interviewed and it was revealed at that point.
24 Q. Now I want to ask you finally about your conversations
25 with Diana. I think you have indicated that you had two
49
1 conversations with the Princess, is that right, on the
2 phone?
3 A. Yes, correct.
4 Q. Just to get the measure of perhaps his sense of humour
5 or even yours, on the first occasion is it right that
6 you did not take it seriously, you were not quite sure
7 that you were talking to the Princess? Do you remember
8 how it went?
9 A. I do. I am a little embarrassed, but Dodi played a lot
10 of practical jokes and he preferred to do them to his
11 staff or try them out on his staff before he tried them
12 on other people. He said, "Melissa, I have somebody
13 I would like you to talk to" and he handed the phone
14 over and I presumed it to be one of his staff people who
15 said "Hi, I am Diana", and since I knew it was a joke,
16 I said, "Well, hello, I am Hillary Clinton".
17 She laughed and laughed and I was not convinced
18 it was her and Dodi had to take the phone and tell me
19 it was really her, and then I had to apologise and we
20 continued our conversation, but she took it in great
21 humour and thought it was very fun.
22 Q. Just in relation to the conversation which you had with
23 her in relation to Malibu and coming out, you have
24 already I think indicated that she was looking forward
25 to coming out to Los Angeles and so on and the Malibu
50
1 lifestyle. What impression did you get from her about
2 how she was regarding this home in Malibu? Was it to be
3 a one-off visit or an occasional holiday? What
4 impression did you get?
5 A. I am not 100 per cent sure how she intended.
6 I believed, after speaking to her, that she was going to
7 spend a considerable amount of time in California. She
8 was looking forward to seeing the house and looking
9 forward to, you know, making adjustments, make sure that
10 the house was ready to receive her, and she also
11 mentioned bringing her sons out when they were on
12 a break from their studies.
13 MR MANSFIELD: Thank you very much.
14 LORD JUSTICE SCOTT BAKER: Mr Keen?
15 MR KEEN: I have no questions, sir.
16 LORD JUSTICE SCOTT BAKER: Mr Croxford?
17 MR CROXFORD: No thank you, sir.
18 LORD JUSTICE SCOTT BAKER: Mr Horwell?
19 MR HORWELL: I have only a few questions to ask you.
20 Questions from MR HORWELL
21 MR HORWELL: You were obviously getting very much a
22 one-sided view of this relationship, weren't you,
23 through Dodi?
24 A. I was getting it from Dodi's perspective, yes.
25 Q. You speak of a dinner that you had with him in
51
1 mid-August. By that time, the relationship could only
2 have existed for about two and a half weeks. It was in
3 its very early stages, wasn't it?
4 A. It was, yes. I do know that they had known each other
5 prior to that, but only on a social level, from what
6 I understand.
7 Q. These were obviously two adults who had each had
8 a previous and broken marriage; Dodi had been married
9 before, hadn't he?
10 A. Yes, he had.
11 Q. And obviously we know had Diana.
12 In the course of this dinner engagement, you have
13 said that Dodi believed so deeply that Diana's life
14 could be under threat and that it could be a real
15 concern for them.
16 A. He believed that her fears were real and he subscribed
17 to those fears as well. I, on the other hand, did not
18 believe it at the time. I was sceptical.
19 Q. I understand. It is just what did in fact Dodi say to
20 you because -- did he tell you that his concern was such
21 that they were going to change their travel arrangements
22 in the future?
23 A. He said that they were taking precautions, that they
24 were being very careful, and what struck me the most,
25 I think, was the fact that he had said that it would
52
1 never happen when the boys were with them.
2 Q. But we know that they continued to travel in cars, they
3 continued to take flights in small aeroplanes. That
4 didn't change, did it?
5 A. That is what I understand, no it did not.
6 Q. We know that in fact there was no increase in the level
7 of bodyguards that were made available to Dodi and
8 Diana. Did he say anything about that to you?
9 A. No. I am not aware of the number of bodyguards that
10 were being used.
11 MR HORWELL: All right. Thank you.
12 MR HOUGH: Nothing further, sir.
13 LORD JUSTICE SCOTT BAKER: Thank you very much,
14 Miss Henning. That is all that we require from you. We
15 are very grateful to you for coming back on a second
16 occasion, having not been able to hear your evidence on
17 the first occasion. We are sorry you were
18 inconvenienced and thank you for coming today.
19 A. No problem, you are welcome.
20 LORD JUSTICE SCOTT BAKER: 10 o'clock tomorrow morning,
21 members of the jury.
22 (4.47 pm)
23 (The hearing was adjourned until 10.00 am
24 on Wednesday, 20th February 2008)
25
53
1
2 INDEX
3
4 Statement of BELKACEM BOUZID (read) .............. 2
5
6 Statement of DETECTIVE SERGEANT .................. 6
7 PHILIP EASTON (read)
8
9 Certificate of DR DIANE BEAULIEU ................. 9
10 D'IVERNOIS (read)
11
12 DETECTIVE SERGEANT PHILIP EASTON ................. 11
13 (recalled)
14
15 Questions from MR HILLIARD ................ 11
16
17 Questions from MR MANSFIELD ............... 18
18
19 Questions from MR HORWELL ................. 20
20
21 MISS MELISSA HENNING (affirmed) .................. 24
22
23 Questions from MR HOUGH ................... 24
24
25 Questions from MR MANSFIELD ............... 47
54
1
2 Questions from MR HORWELL ................. 51
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
55
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