Mohamed al-Fayed took the stand todayat a court inquest into Princess Diana’s death and turned it into a one-man, score-settling tirade against the royals, ripping Prince Philip as a “Nazi” and calling his kin a “Dracula family.”
Al-Fayed – who has long suspected foul play in the deaths of Di and son Dodi Fayed – launched a series of wild, unsubstantiated conspiracy theories during the coroner’s inquest in London.
He was called as a witness in this court proceeding – mandated under British law for unnatural deaths – and used it as his personal platform to blister the monarchy, former Prime Minister Tony Blair, and other political leaders al-Fayed believes are hiding the truth.
“It was slaughter, not a murder!” the brash owner of Harrods department store told jurors. “I have been fighting for 10 years to be where we are.”
Al-Fayed cited letters and personal talks with Princess Di in arguing that she feared for her life, months before the Aug. 31, 1997, tragedy. He said the monarchy and powerful British political insiders didn’t want Di to marry an Egyptian Muslim. “Diana told me on the telephone that she was pregnant,” al-Fayed said. “I was the only person that they told.”
Al-Fayed’s most venomous witness-stand attacks were aimed at royals – whom he labeled “that Dracula family.”
“It’s time to send [Prince Philip] back to Germany from where he comes!” al-Fayed said in a shot against Philip’s German ancestry.
“You want to know his original name? It ends with Frankenstein!”
As al-Fayed railed against Prince Philip, coroner’s lawyer Ian Burnett wound up the witness’ testimony by asking if he believed “Prince Philip is not only a racist, but a Nazi as well?”
“Absolutely!” Al-Fayed eagerly responded.
Princess Diana was once in line to be queen of England, after marrying Prince Charles in 1981.
Their fairytale union ended 15 years later in divorce, amid allegations Charles had been carrying on with his current wife Camilla Parker Bowles. Conspiracy theorists like al-Fayed have long believed Charles benefited from having Diana out of the way.
“[Charles] married his crocodile wife and he is happy with that,” al-Fayed fumed. “They cleared the decks. They finished [Diana]. They murdered her.”
A lengthy British police probe concluded in late 2005 that Di, 36, and Dodi, 42, died in a “tragic accident,” fueled by the drunken driving of their chauffeur Henri Paul.
That explanation hasn’t satisfied Al-Fayed, who accused Prime Minister Blair of taking part in this alleged cabal to commit double murder. “I’m sure he [Blair] knows what they were going to do. Definitely,” said al-Fayed.
Skeptical coroner, Lord Justice Scott Baker, commented that al-Fayed’s story would require a massive effort to keep under wraps. “There are a very large number of people on this account,” Baker said.