Diana inquest jury visits Paris crash site

PARIS (Reuters) - The British jurors hearing the inquest into Princess Diana's death went to Paris on Monday to see at first hand where she died in a high-speed car crash 10-years ago with her lover Dodi al-Fayed.

The court, in extraordinary session for two days in France, retraced the last movements of the ill-fated couple -- from the Ritz Hotel where they spent their final evening together to the crash scene in the Alma underpass.

The 11-strong jury accompanied by Coroner Lord Justice Scott Baker, court officials and media traveled the short distance on three silver buses accompanied by police outriders.

Police closed off traffic to the tunnel to allow the jurors and coroner to walk down the road and see for themselves the central reservation where Diana's Mercedes limousine crashed.

Diana and Dodi died shortly after midnight on August 31, 1997, when their driver lost control of their car, hitting the 13th pillar in the underpass and spinning across the carriageway.

The jurors and court officials formed a semi-circle around the pillar, standing in complete silence for almost a minute before the coroner encouraged them to move towards the far end of the tunnel to look back at the view.

"Members of the jury it may be that what you're seeing isn't entirely natural due to the large number of police and photographers who are present, who are having some effect on the traffic," he said.

The jury was due to repeat the trip after dark to get a better feeling for events.

PAPARAZZI

Dodi's father Mohamed al-Fayed says the couple were killed by British security services acting on the orders of Queen Elizabeth's husband, Diana's former father-in-law.

Investigations by French and British police concluded the deaths were an accident caused by a speeding chauffeur, who was found to be drunk and who also died in the crash.

Baker, fearful that the court's Paris visit could provoke the same paparazzi hysteria that greeted the world's most photographed woman when she was alive, has pleaded for media restraint and respect for the jury's privacy.

The jury of six women and five men and court staff were flown to Paris on a private jet with news organizations instructed not to reveal where they were staying.

The trip was planned to give the group a clear idea of all the relevant locations and they were also due to visit the Pitie-Salpetriere hospital, where Diana died. Dodi died at the crash scene and Diana shortly after being taken to hospital.

The jurors started their visit at the Ritz Hotel and were shown the backdoor exit which Diana and Dodi took in a vain attempt to escape the waiting hordes of photographers.

As one of their buses arrived at the hotel's front door, it collided with a police outrider, knocking him off his motorcycle but not injuring him. The bus then hit a small pillar, bursting a wheel and sending a resounding bang around the square.

At last week's opening to the inquest, the jury were shown poignant shots from the corridors of the Ritz Hotel captured a relaxed and smiling Diana, head tilted sideways in a characteristic gesture, snuggling in the arms of her lover.

Dodi's father says the couple were engaged and Diana was pregnant.

Under British law, an inquest is needed to determine the cause of death when someone dies unnaturally.

(Additional reporting by Paul Majendie in London)