British newspapers let out a collective sigh of relief yesterday after the inquest into the death of Princess Diana returned a verdict, and called for her to finally be left to rest in peace.
The 11-member jury returned verdicts of unlawful killing through grossly negligent driving, blaming chauffeur Henri Paul and paparazzi photographers pursuing her car at high speed.
Jurors added that the fact that Diana and her boyfriend Dodi Fayed were not wearing seatbelts contributed to their deaths.
The Guardian wrote in its editorial that the jury had found that “there was no conspiracy involving the Duke of Edinburgh, MI6 [British intelligence service], Mossad, visitors from Mars or the man on the grassy knoll ... That’s it. The end. Enough. Let it be.”
“The inquest has been a travesty of what should have been a solemn procedure. Thank God it is over. Let us hope we never have to put up with anything like it again,” it said.
During the six-month inquest at London’s High Court, Dodi’s father Mohamed Al Fayed alleged that the couple were killed in an establishment plot involving senior royals including Queen Elizabeth II’s husband Prince Philip, to prevent her marrying a Muslim.
Several newspapers urged Al Fayed to drop his allegations and accept the verdict of the inquest.
“Mohamed Fayed was understandably grief-stricken by the loss of his son,” the Daily Telegraph’s editorial read.
“But his efforts in the intervening years to sully the reputations of the royal family, the security and intelligence services, the Metropolitan Police, the British judicial system, sundry diplomats and, indeed, anyone who did not share his paranoid convictions, have long since destroyed any residual sympathy for his predicament.”
“Mr Fayed has nowhere else to go ... This must stop here: let the victims of this tragic affair now rest in peace,” it continued.
The Independent’s editorial said “it is to be hoped that this verdict will, at the very least, bring an end to the unedifying soap opera that has accompanied this inquest.”
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