Mohamed al Fayed 'snubbed the security plea that might have saved Diana'

But the Harrods tycoon refused requests to assign more security to the princess and her lover Dodi Fayed - and personally approved the 'decoy' plan that ultimately led to their deaths, it was alleged.

Former Royal Marine Kieran 'Kes' Wingfield, one of two guards responsible for the couple's safety, said protecting them was virtually impossible.

Dodi kept them in the dark about his movements, and urgent pleas for at least another six security staff during their time in St Tropez and Paris were repeatedly ignored by Mr Al Fayed and his security organisation.

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Asked if there was anything that could have been done that might have avoided the crash, he told the inquest into Dodi and Diana's deaths: "If we'd been allowed to have done our jobs properly by the organisation, then we wouldn't be having this conversation now."

He insisted that he would never have let Ritz security chief Henri Paul get behind the wheel of the car that took the couple on their fatal last journey from the Paris hotel if he had realised he had been drinking alcohol.

Mr Wingfield told the inquest that when he heard that Diana had died, Mohamed Al Fayed immediately blamed the British Government and Prince Philip.

He met Mr Al Fayed as he arrived in Paris in the early hours of August 31, 1997, when Dodi was still the only confirmed victim of the crash.

Mr Wingfield told the hearing: "The Boss came across and I said, 'I'm sorry for your loss, sir'.

"As we were walking across I said to him, 'I've got some more bad news for you. I believe the Princess of Wales is dead'.

"As we were driving off, the Boss exploded.

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"He said something like, 'I hope the British government and Prince Philip are happy now'.

"I said, 'That's not the case, sir. No one would ever have wished this'.

"He slumped back in his seat."

Mr Wingfield was assigned to guard Diana and Dodi during their Mediterranean holiday in 1997.

Dodi, he said, wanted only two bodyguards during their time on Mr Al Fayed's yacht, the Jonikal. Mr Wingfield raised his concerns with superiors in London.

But when he disclosed that it was Dodi who ordered the "discreet" presence, he was told: "If that's what the Boss wants, that's what's going to happen."

In Paris, Mr Wingfield "repeatedly" asked for extra staff "but each time the request was denied". At one stage, he spoke to Mr Al Fayed directly.

The shortcomings were exposed when a plot was hatched to smuggle the couple out of the back door of the Ritz to avoid the gathering mobs of paparazzi.

When Mr Wingfield advised Dodi that they should not go ahead with the plan, he responded: "It's OK, it's been okayed by MF. It's been okayed by my father."

But Michael Mansfield QC, representing Mohamed Al Fayed, told the court: "I want to make it clear that none of this had been authorised by Mohamed Al Fayed."

The hearing continues.