Diana to get inquest

An official inquest was today ordered into the deaths of Diana, Princess of Wales and her boyfriend Dodi Fayed.

The royal coroner said the separate inquests will open on 6 January. They will be the first official public hearings in Britain into the couple's deaths in Paris six years ago.

The inquests could finally solve the mystery of how the pair died in the high-speed underpass crash.

The announcement by Michael Burgess, coroner to the Queen's Household, comes after repeated requests by Dodi's father Mohamed Fayed for a public inquiry.

On news of the announcement, a spokesman for the royal family said: "It's entirely a matter for the coroner. We always understood the law required an inquest at some point."

As Surrey coroner, Mr Burgess has jurisdiction over the inquest into Dodi's death because he was buried at Brookwood Cemetery, near Woking, immediately after his body was flown back to Britain.

A French investigation concluded that Dodi and Diana were killed because their driver, Henri Paul, was drunk.