'No Sign' That Diana Was Pregnant

There were no physical signs that Diana, Princess of Wales, was pregnant when she died, a British pathologist who examined her has told the inquest into her death.

Dr Robert Chapman carried out the post-mortem on the Princess on the night she died and told the inquest that the Princess' womb and ovaries did not show the telltale signs of pregnancy.

However, he did say that the signs would not necessarily be very visible in the few weeks following conception. He said that he would expect to see the signs three weeks after conception, but said that they could sometimes be visible as soon as seven days after the baby was conceived.

Dr Chapman examined the bodies of Princess Diana and her companion Dodi Al Fayed at Hammersmith and Fulham mortuary when they were flown back to the UK after the couple died in a crash in the Pont de l'Alma tunnel in Paris on August 31, 1997, along with their driver Henri Paul.

The jury at the inquest has heard that Dodi's father,Mohamed Al Fayed, believed that the couple were murdered by the security services because Diana was pregnant with Dodi's child.

Mr Fayed has also claimed that Diana's body was embalmed in Paris in order to obscure the results of any pregnancy test which may have been carried out.

However, Dr Chapman told the inquest that the chemicals used in embalming would not obscure evidence of a pregnancy.

Two people had to be ejected from the courtroom after shouting about "the conspiracy" as Dr Chapman began to give evidence.

Meanwhile, coroner Lord Justice Scott Baker has failed in his bid to have testimony from paparazzi involved in the case read to the inquest jury.

He had lodged an appeal on Friday against a High Court ruling, which prevented statements from French photographers, who chased the Princess' car on the night she died, from being included in the inquest.

French authorities had earlier ruled that the paparazzi would not be forced to appear in person at the inquest.

(KMcA)