French spy admitted: 'We could have saved Diana'

A French security officer said that, had they been made aware, specialist police would have mounted an undercover security operation to safeguard her during her stay, the inquest into her death heard.

The dramatic claim was made by the mystery Frenchman who sidled up to British Consul-General Keith Moss outside the hospital room where Diana had just died after a car crash.

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Mr Moss told the inquest in London: "He described himself as being from the French equivalent of the Diplomatic Protection Group in the UK and he came over to me, introduced himself, and at some point in the conversation he asked me whether we had known the princess had been in France and if we did know, why his service hadn't been informed.

"He then went on to say that, however informal, if a contact had been made with his organisation, through embassy facilities I suppose, then they would have conducted - if you like - discreet surveillance or security coverage during the time of her visit."

Michael Mansfield QC, representing Mohamed Al Fayed, whose son Dodi also died in the crash, asked: "If they had known and if they had managed to make surveillance, however discreet, did he say words to the effect that this incident would possibly not have happened, did he say that to you?"

Mr Moss replied: "That was the inference of what he was saying, yes."

But he added: "I replied that as far as I was concerned, we were totally unaware of her visit to France."

Mr Moss said he did not take the man's name, but believed he must have been important because their exchange took place in a secure area at the Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital as dignitaries including the French president Jacques Chirac gathered to pay their respects to Diana.

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Mr Moss, who was second in charge of the Paris embassy, rushed to the hospital to coordinate the British consular response to the crash while doctors were still battling to save her life.

He controlled access to the room where Diana's body was lying and later had to greet a string of dignitaries who arrived. Mr Mansfield asked why Mr Moss, who has since retired from the diplomatic service, never made a note of the French security man's name.

He said: "You recognise now, do you not, that it might have been quite significant to discover who this man was and how he thought he would have been able, had they been tipped off, even informally, how they might have prevented the death of the Princess of Wales?

"That's a pretty important question, wasn't it?" Mr Moss replied: "It didn't seem to be at the time."

Mr Al Fayed claims the Princess was murdered by MI6 on the orders of Prince Philip because she was pregnant by Dodi.

Asked about MI6, Mr Moss confirmed to the inquest that British security services had a base in Paris at the time of the tragedy on August 31, 1997, but insisted he was not aware of their activities.

The hearing continues.