Was Diana Murdered? The Theories Live On!

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An inquest was launched last week into the August 1997 deaths of Princess Diana and Dodi Fayed. Don't read anything into that. An inquest is required, and it began as late as it did mainly because royal coroner Michael Burgess had to wait until the French investigation (which concluded that the car crash was an accident) was finished. Still, it has revived interest in conspiracy theories--some of them fueled by Diana herself, in a letter made public in which she expressed fear that she might be killed. But most appear highly dubious:

CHARLES ORDERED THE MURDER; BRITISH AGENTS CARRIED IT OUT. Why? To prevent Dodi from marrying Diana. Problem is, Diana had dated her Arab suitor for only six weeks and had told friends she had no intention of marrying him.

THE ROYAL FAMILY ORDERED IT BECAUSE DIANA WAS PREGNANT. The Windsors, in a theory pushed by Dodi's father, could not bear the idea of a Muslim strain in their bloodline. But former royal coroner John Burton, who witnessed Diana's postmortem, said flatly, "She wasn't pregnant. I have seen into her womb."

THE CRASH WAS CAUSED BY A WHITE FIAT, POSSIBLY DRIVEN BY A BRITISH AGENT. Traces of paint found on the wreck suggest that it glanced off a white Fiat made in the '80s, and a pair of witnesses saw such a car in the tunnel where the crash occurred. But plotting a crash would have been hard since the couple decided where they were going just a few minutes before hopping into their car. And would agents really use a decade-old jalopy as a murder weapon? Of course, that might be the true genius of the plan.

--By Stephen Bates