Diana, Princess of Wales told her solicitors of a plot to tamper with her car so it would crash and "get rid of her" or leave her "unbalanced", the inquest into her death has heard.

Maggie Rae, one of three lawyers present at the meeting in October 1995, said the Princess also believed the Queen was about to abdicate in favour of Charles, the Prince of Wales, and that Tiggy Legge Bourke, the former Royal nanny whom she believed the Prince wanted to marry, had had "an abortion".

The Princess made the extraordinary claims when Lord Mishcon, head of law firm Mishcon de Reya, visited her at Kensington Palace to introduce her to Miss Rae and senior partner Sandra Davis, who were to take over the Princess's legal work from him.

Lord Mishcon, who has since died, was so concerned about what the Princess had said that he made a full note of the conversation, which was read to the jury at the Royal Courts of Justice in London.

He wrote: "Her Royal Highness said that she had been informed by reliable sources, whom she did not want to reveal, as they would very quickly dry up if she did, that:

A: The Queen would be abdicating in April and the Prince of Wales would then be assuming the throne, and
B: Efforts would then be made, if not to get rid of her, be it by some accident in her car, such as prepared brake failure or whatever, between now and then, at least to see that she was so injured or damaged as to be declared 'unbalanced'.
"She was convinced that there was a conspiracy and that she and Camilla Parker Bowles were to be put aside.

"She had also been told that Miss Legge Bourke had been operated on for an abortion and that she, HRH, would soon be in receipt of 'a certificate'.

"I told HRH that if she really believed her life was being threatened, security measures, including those on her car, must be increased."

Lord Mishcon set up a meeting with the Princess's private secretary Patrick Jephson, who said he "half believed" what she said.

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