Britain's most senior policeman is to oversee the country's first public inquest into the 1997 death of Diana, Princess of Wales, which opened in central London on Tuesday morning.   

Royal Coroner Michael Burgess said Sir John Stevens, the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, is to investigate whether the crash which killed Diana and her lover Dodi Al Fayed in a Paris underpass was more than just an accident.

The police would be asked to interview potential witnesses to determine the extent and relevance of their evidence, said Burgess. He claimed Sir John's findings would help him decide whether the inquest needed to examine the rumors surrounding the crash.

"I am aware that there is speculation that these deaths were not the result of the sad but relatively straightforward road traffic accident in Paris," he said when announcing his decision to enlist the police help. 

Mohammed Al Fayed, the owner of Harrods and Dodi's father, has always insisted that the deaths of his 42-year-old son and the 36-year-old princess were the result of a conspiracy.

After announcing the police role, Burgess adjourned the inquest hearings into Diana's death until 2005, because of the complexity of the case and also the necessity to consider the vast amount of information from the French investigation, and over issues such as which witnesses to call.

A separate inquest into Al Fayed's death was to open Tuesday afternoon in Surrey, south of London. 

On the day, it also emerged that Paul Burrell, Diana's ex-butler, would hand the inquest a letter in which she apparently claimed there was a plot to kill her in a crash.

The Daily Mirror tabloid claimed the letter appeared to show that Diana believed Prince Charles was behind the plan, but it pointed out the claim was probably "preposterous".

The inquest is the first time the British authorities have formally examined the couple's deaths, following a French inquiry which said their driver was drunk and speeding.

(Xinhua News Agency January 7, 2004)