Diana car crash photos shown to jury

October 13, 2007

London - Photos of Princess Diana while she lay dying in her car were been shown at the London inquest into her controversial 1997 death.

The Princess of Wales's hair and the side of her face inside the car could be made out, despite the images being pixellated.

Coroner Lord Justice Scott Baker ruled the photos, taken after the fatal Paris crash in 1997, would not be released into the public domain.

New pictures of the princess leaving the Ritz Hotel have been released after being shown to the inquest jury.

The jury were also shown police mugshots of 17 paparazzi taken as part of the French investigation into the fatal Paris crash.

Metropolitan Police inspector Paul Carpenter talked the jury through the shots taken by paparazzi in the immediate aftermath of the crash.

The inquest into the deaths of Diana and Dodi Al Fayed at the High Court in London has also heard about the behavior of the photographers prior to the incident.

The court was told that photographers stood outside the car taking pictures before anyone opened the door to offer help, and also that the couple's car was being hindered by motorcycles before crashing.

One witness said the car was followed by two or three bikes while occupants of another car reported "insistent" beeping and braking and a loud crash.

They did not realize who had been involved until the next day.

The court was also shown a series of police mug shots of members of the paparazzi taken as part of the investigation into the crash.

Close-up shots of the injured princess were taken by numerous paparazzi in the underpass.

One by Laslo Veres appeared to show Diana on the floor of the back seat of the car, with one leg raised.

Another arrested photographer Romuald Rat squatted down next to the open door of the Mercedes, moments after the crash.

Michael Mansfield QC, lawyer for Mohamed Al Fayed whose son Dodi was killed alongside the princess, said the paparazzi appeared to show little conscience.

Several pictures showed emergency workers carrying an unidentified pixellated slumped figure away from the vehicle.

Mansfield said: "It is perfectly clear from the photographs the jury has been through that the paparazzi who were present at the scene of the crash had no compunction about taking photographs of the victims both inside the car and being carried outside the car."

The majority of the paparazzi images came from negatives seized by the police in the wake of the crash.