Woman gored by elephant could win up to £800,000 from William girl's father

Wendy Martin, 46, needed 16 operations after being attacked by the three-ton beast in Kenya at the Il Ngwesi Lodge, run by wealthy conservationist Ian Craig.

Prince William himself enjoyed a romantic break at the lodge with his then girlfriend Kate Middleton two years ago and is understood to have spent time there with Jecca, with whom he has been romantically linked.

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Mrs Martin, of Godalming, Surrey, whose husband Steve was a senior diplomat at the British embassy in Nairobi, spent months in intensive care after the elephant drove its tusks through her chest, abdomen, right thigh and calf.

She also suffered a crushed pelvis after the animal knelt on her. She sued Mr Craig in the Kenyan High Court for alleged negligence and lack of care and says:

"I was convinced I was going to die.I still have to take daily doses of morphine to dull the constant pain," added the mother-of-three, who has borrowed £100,000 to fight the case.

Mrs Martin's lawyers claimed in court that despite staff at the lodge being warned the night before that a herd of elephants had been spotted nearby, they failed to inform guests.

Instead, they said, an unarmed guide took Mrs Martin and two friends out for a morning run.

When confronted by the elephant, she claimed, the guide told them to stop and when the animal charged he just shouted "run".

Mrs Martin said that during the court case, the lodge operators were unable to produce any evidence of safety procedures or regulations.

She also claimed they were operating without insurance cover. Mr Craig, who flew Mrs Martin in his own plane to a Nairobi hospital after the attack in June 2000, told The Mail on Sunday: "Indeed, there was no insurance cover at the time of the accident."

But he denies negligence and lack of care. He said: "I am confident that the Kenyan judiciary will make a fair ruling on the case."