An inquest into the car crash that killed Princess Diana will be held Jan. 6, the royal family's coroner said Thursday, the first official public hearing in Britain into a death that after six years still raises questions among many there.  

A separate inquest into the death of Dodi Fayed, who died with her in the Aug. 31, 1997, car crash in Paris, is to be held on the same date at a different location, said Michael Burgess, coroner of the queen's household.

Dodi Fayed's father, Egyptian-born billionaire Mohammed Al Fayed has long contended the crash was part of a murder plot and urged a public inquiry. That was rejected by the British government. His spokesman on Thursday welcomed the inquest but said its scope was too narrow.

The inquest will hold its official opening Jan. 6 and adjourn the same day, the coroner's office said. The coroner will then begin deciding what witnesses to call to testify, a process that could take weeks.

The coroner gave few other details but said he would make a statement about the nature and scope of evidence he expected to receive.

A spokesman for Prince Charles' office at Clarence House said the inquests were "entirely a matter for the coroner."

"We always understood the law required an inquest at some point," the spokesman said on customary condition of anonymity, declining to comment further.

The Home Office said such an inquest is required when "an unnatural or violent death occurs abroad," and the body is brought into England or Wales.

Although such an inquest is not unusual, it may serve to dispel lingering suspicions among some in Britain that there was a plot to kill the princess.

British officials had said a British inquest would be held once legal processes in France were completed.

That happened on Nov. 28, when three photographers who took pictures of the couple at the scene of their deadly crash were acquitted of invading the couple's privacy.

A French investigation concluded in 1999 that the driver, Henri Paul, who was also killed, had been drinking and was speeding.

Al Fayed spokesman Chester Stern called the British inquest encouraging but said it did not change al Fayed's desire for a public inquiry.

"The remit of a coroner's inquest is far too narrow. It's merely to determine the cause of death," Stern said. "This is a matter which requires open public scrutiny on a much broader scale than an inquest can offer."

There is a significant minority of Britons who share al Fayed's suspicions.

In September, an opinion poll found that 27 percent of those asked believed the princess was murdered. The survey conducted by polling company NOP also said 49 percent thought there had been a cover-up of the circumstances of Diana's death.

This week, al Fayed began appealing a previous decision by Scotland's Lord Advocate, Lord Drummond-Young, who refused his application for an inquiry in Scotland on grounds the crash happened outside Scottish jurisdiction.

Burgess is the coroner for Surrey county south of London and responsible for inquests into royal deaths.

"The opening of these inquests has been the subject of discussion and correspondence with the families for some time but because of the complexity of the situation, the final arrangements have taken rather longer to complete than I would have wished," Burgess said.

"These arrangements have been advised to both families," he said.

The inquests will be opened on the same day at two different venues: Diana's at 10:30 a.m. at the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Center in London, and Fayed's at 3 p.m. the same day at Wray Park, Reigate, in Surrey County, south of London.

(China Daily December 19, 2003)