Gregory and the inquest
Sir: We read once again an attack on Mohamed Al Fayed by Martyn Gregory over the inquest into the deaths of Diana, Princess of Wales and Dodi Al Fayed (No "flash before the crash", 27 October). As it happens, Mr Gregory has rarely appeared at the inquest, which goes a little way to explaining his skewed views. But he was present on Monday, and collared me to ask about the evidence relating to a white Fiat Uno. 'It will be front-page stuff' he volunteered.
Mr Gregory would barely notice if it was 'front page' or not. His article demonstrated that he has ignored the entire output of the British press in the past four weeks. Because of his fanatical obsession with criticising Mohamed Al Fayed, he cannot bring himself to take on board evidence that goes against his erroneous and increasingly marginal view that the crash was an accident.
The reporting from the courtroom has rightly taken witnesses seriously, as they have provided valuable new evidence. Witnesses have spoken of a second large dark car in the Alma tunnel, of motorcycles following the Mercedes closely, and at least one witness has described a blocking vehicle forcing the Mercedes to slow down. We have heard clearly of a white Fiat Uno zigzagging slowly on the slip-road to the tunnel, the driver adjusting his rear-view mirror as if 'waiting for someone'.
Those in court have seen CCTV footage which shows a touching portrait of a couple in love moments before their fatal journey; of the allegedly drunk chauffeur Henri Paul bounding up and down stairs, two at a time; and the testimony of three witnesses referring to a blinding flash, conveniently ignored by Mr Gregory.
We are only a few weeks in, and already those who said there would be nothing new at these inquests have been silenced. Except for Martyn Gregory, who relies on rubbishing three barristers representing Mr Al Fayed, Henri Paul's parents and the Ritz by stealing a very old joke from the magazine Private Eye (Hugefee QCs').
Katharine Witty Director of Press and Public Affairs, Chairman's Office, Harrods SW1
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