London Telegraph
Friday, January 5, 2007

The Queen is to be represented at the preliminary hearings of the inquest into the death of Diana, Princess of Wales next week, it was confirmed yesterday.

Buckingham Palace has asked the Attorney General, Lord Goldsmith, to see to the matter.

He has appointed Sir John Nutting, QC, to attend Baroness Butler-Sloss's procedural hearings at the High Court on Monday and Tuesday.

Lady Butler-Sloss is to decide whether there will be a jury for the inquest.

The princess was still a member of the Royal Family when she died, so any jury would have to be made up of members of the Royal Household.

Lady Butler-Sloss will also assess whether separate or joint inquests will be held for the princess and her lover Dodi Fayed, who was also killed in the Paris car crash nearly 10 years ago.

The hearings are to resume after the publication of Lord Stevens's Metropolitan Police inquiry last month.

He dismissed the many conspiracy theories surrounding the incident in the Pont de l'Alma tunnel on Aug 31, 1997, and concluded that the crash was an accident.

The Attorney General's Office said the Queen would not be represented at the full inquest, which could take place later this year.