Seated At British Inquest of the People's Princess: Part 1 of 3.

There he was in person with his retinue of bodyguards
and swanky lawyers as I sat just yards away from

Mohammad Al Fayed, whose son Dodi was killed in

Paris with Diana, Princess of Wales. A small, short, thin,

man with dark complexion and eyes that seem set in

black sockets, he made just over £100 million at his

Harrods Department Store a couple of weeks ago over

Christmas. He has 50 bodyguards to protect him and his

family, too. This is the same man who has also accused the

Queen's husband, the Duke of Edinburgh, of being behind

a plot to kill Diana and his son. At the High Court, Al Fayed

was treated like a Farouk, indeed. Bowing and scrapeing

they were to him like he was some old Egyptian king of old.

Thus today, the more the money the deeper is the bow.

Especially from those who have no such money or who

want to get their hands on such rich folkz. Who gives

a damn about such stinking rich? I certainly don't give

tiddledy-winks for the likes of Mohammad Al Fayed.

He can go and jump in the lake for all I care ...

They wore no judicial white wigs and crimson gowns that

I had expected to encounter at the High Court at where

the Coroner's Inquests into the Deaths of Diana, Princess

of Wales and Mr. Dodi Al Fayed, are being held under

H.M. Coroner Lord Justice Scott Baker at Court 73 on

the 2nd floor of the East Block. What I found was the

judge and all the barristers - who I call "legalheads" -

were dressed only in regular borng lawyer suits and

not robed in any traditional way. I was abit dis-

appointed not to see such flowing regalia, but in all

the other courts, except the coroner's, those wigs and
gowns are de jure at the British High Court at where I

spent a full day and lunch inside the edifice, ironically, on

the day of The Islamic New Year, 1429. That's perhaps

why Al Fayed, the Egyptian and Muslim billionaire that

he is, also attended the same coroner's court on the

same day as me since it was a New Year's Day holiday

for him. Why not? I felt, nevertheless, an air of thuggism

as I watched closely the Al Fayed thuggee depart from

The Royal Courts of Justice at the Strand after his

spokesman Michael Cole had completed the first hour of

his two and half hour testimony to the coroner's court.

Michael Cole was something else ...

Packed with 50 or more computer flat panels,

Court 73 looked more like an IT classroom or an

internet cafe than a coroner's court to me. I was

aghast to see the full aray of modern technology

in such a court instead of what I thought a

coroner's court would be like with fine wooden

panelling and a carved oak judge's bench and

all. No such thing, but thoroughly clinical and

technological was the courtroom's interior with

streamlined blue and black office chairs and

cold computer tables all abound. I had never

before been to a coroner's hearing, of course.

She, Simone Simmons, has made big buckz,

both before and after the horrific death of

the People's Princess, who was a close and

emotionally-fragile friend of the so-called

faith healer. If she's a faith healer, then I

must be a wild kangaroo ...

The Simmons woman was one of

three witnesses called while I was seated at the

inquests. She played her role upto the hilt inside

the courtroom knowing that being a witness at

such high profile inquests will not only spread

her name further by free publicity, but add alot

more fortune to her coffers. I took an instant

dislike to her as she gossiped about what Diana

had allegedly told her and of Diana's fear of be-

ing "bumped off" by the British secret service. I

know now where they got the word "arrogance"

from after watching Simone Simmons perform

for over 100 minutes with her testimony

before a jury of six men and six women and with

around thirty or so barristers and lawyers pack-

ing their legal profession with their optimum

presence.

As I sat seated with one of only 20 daily ticket

holders granted direct access to sit inside the

courtroom itself, I kept asking myself is this

a positive inquest or a negative inquisition or a

public tribunal or a courtroom trial? After more

than 6½ hours of listening to the three witnesses,

I became convinced it's abit of each four - inquest,

inquisition, tribunal, and trial. At least from the

witnesses I saw being quizzed for hours at a time.

And at what cost to the taxpayer are these

Inquests of Diana and Dodi going to amount to

at the end of the day which is set to close at

sometime in March of 2oo8. That's after they

first began in October of 2oo7. I reckon if

those 30 or more barristers and lawyers at

the inquests are getting say a minimum of

£100.00 per hour for their legal services at

5 hours per day for 5 days per week that

would cost us £150.000 to pay them. In

one month, the legal bill would be £600.000.

Multiply that by six months and we're looking

at over £3½ million for the Diana and Dodi

Inquests. Such a figure I give here is, I am

sure, a very conservative one. In any event,

it's costing millions and for what for? To tell

us that the couple were brutally killed (or

murdered) in a Paris Tunnel at now

more than 10 years ago ... Or what?

:: This is one of three parts I will present

about my experience at the Diana and

Dodi Inquests ::

Faithfully, Monty.
+Epiphanytide, 2oo8.