Riddle of the ring that Dodi bought for Diana

Claude Roulet was slapped down after he suggested that a jeweller was 'lying' when he claimed the couple had visited his shop together to choose an engagement ring on the afternoon before they died.

It was actually Mr Roulet who helped Dodi choose a ring for Diana from the Paris jeweller's shop, the London inquest into her death was told.

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Mr Roulet came across the 'Dis-moi Oui' (Tell Me Yes) ring from an engagement range which Dodi then picked out from a selection he brought to his suite at the Paris Ritz on the afternoon of August 30 1997.

But Mr Roulet, who was assistant to the president of the hotel, said that Dodi never mentioned engagement.

He simply picked out the cheapest from around six items of jewellery which also included necklaces and bracelets.

After the crash the jeweller, Alberto Repossi, began speaking to the media and 'making things up' about an engagement, said Mr Roulet.

But when Mr Roulet asked the hotel's president, Franz Klein, why Mr Repossi was lying, he was told: "Shut up, it is not your matter."

The inquest also heard that the driver of Diana's Mercedes was spotted drinking at two bars on the night of her death.

Mr Roulet saw Henri Paul alone at a bar near the Ritz at 8.20pm on the night of the crash.

Two hours later Mr Paul was caught on CCTV drinking spirits and talking with Diana's bodyguards in the hotel.

He drank two glasses of aniseed spirit, which contains 45 per cent alcohol.

It has been claimed that Mr Paul went 'missing' for three hours between going off duty as head of security at the hotel at 7pm and returning at 10pm, when Diana and Dodi turned up pursued by paparazzi.

Mr Al Fayed, who owns the Ritz, rejects evidence that Mr Paul was drunk and claims that his son and Diana were murdered in an MI6 plot.

The hearing continues.