Diana 'plot': Paper names Charles
 |
Dodi and Diana, pictured on vacation in 1997.
Story Tools
|
LONDON, England (CNN) -- The British monarchy is embroiled in fresh controversy after a newspaper claimed Princess Diana feared Prince Charles wanted to kill her in the months before her death.
The claim about Diana's ex-husband and heir to the British throne was made by the Daily Mirror Tuesday -- hours before an inquest opened in London into the death of the princess, who was killed in a car crash in Paris in 1997.
CNN could not confirm the Mirror's allegations that the words "my husband" were behind a blacked-out portion of a letter written by Diana and published last year in a book by her former butler, Paul Burrell, which was serialized by the Mirror.
The Mirror printed an image of the letter in Tuesday's edition, but the blacked-out portions remained.
Burrell said Tuesday he was "angry" at the newspaper's decision to publish the allegation. Speaking to Sky News outside his home, he said he was going to consult his lawyer and agent.
Asked about the Daily Mirror's report, royal sources told CNN there "are lots of conspiracy theories, and no evidence to support any of them."
"And there's absolutely no truth in any of these allegations that have been made," the sources said.
The allegations were made on the same day that royal coroner Michael Burgess opened -- and adjourned -- separate inquests into the deaths of Diana and Dodi Fayed, who died with her when their Mercedes smashed at high speed into a barrier in a tunnel. (Full story)
Fayed's father, Mohamed al Fayed, attended both hearings. Fayed has contended from the start that Diana and his son were murdered because the royal family did not like that the Princess of Wales had a Muslim boyfriend.
He told reporters Tuesday he hoped the "truth will come out" in the British inquest. "It is absolute black and white murder," Fayed said.
