Driver 'spied for French security'

Henri Paul, the deputy head of security at the Ritz Hotel in Paris, liaised with police and intelligence services about important guests when required, Diana's inquest heard.

Claude Roulet, assistant to the president of the Ritz, told how Mr Paul personally put him in contact with the DST (Direction de la Surveillance du Territoire) when an important Russian diplomat was coming to stay.

He said the hotel was often asked about the movements of high-profile guests by the police, information he felt he "had to" provide.

Mohamed al Fayed, whose son Dodi was killed in the crash with Diana in August 1997, is convinced the couple were murdered in an MI6-led plot on the orders of the Duke of Edinburgh.

He believes Henri Paul was in the pay of spies and acting on their orders in the early hours of August 31 1997, when he drove Diana and Dodi through the Pont de l'Alma Tunnel in Paris where they crashed.

Mr Roulet told the couple's inquest on Wednesday: "The French police knew about the arrival of some guests and when they needed to have a look at what they did they asked the security services at the Ritz to have some tips about what they did and when they came in and went out and who they met and so on."

The court heard that Henri Paul was first recommended for his job at the hotel by a police officer who was one of his best friends.

Asked if it was Henri Paul's job to help police with inquiries about special guests Mr Roulet explained: "Usually it is the task of the security chief but Henri Paul had very good contacts with the French police so maybe those contacts meant that he was contacted more than his chief."

The jury has heard that during the summer of 1997 Henri Paul was in fact the acting head of security at the hotel because of a vacancy in the department.