Ex-MI6 head denies Diana death plot

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Sir Richard Dearlove stepped out of the shadows and into the witness box at Diana's inquest to publicly defend the agency.

He was MI6 director of operations when the Princess, her lover Dodi Fayed and driver Henri Paul died in a Paris car crash in August 1997.

Sir Richard said this was an "exception" to the agency's golden rule not to comment on allegations made against the service. He told the inquest he was not aware of the agency carrying out any killings during his career.

Ian Burnett QC, for the coroner, asked: "Was there any operation of any kind made against or in respect of the Princess of Wales or Dodi Fayed during that summer?" Sir Richard responded: "Absolutely not".

Mr Burnett asked: "That includes all such things as eavesdropping, surveillance, bugging - anything that anyone could think?" Sir Richard answered: "Everything."

Mr Burnett said: "With what degree of confidence are you able to tell the jury of that fact?" Sir Richard replied: "Complete confidence."

Under laws governing SIS (the Secret Intelligence Service), it requires authorisation from the Foreign Secretary to carry out any operation that would involve breaking the law, such as bugging or assassination. No such authorisation was sought in relation to Diana in 1997, the court heard.

He told the inquest that as a senior MI6 official with "very extensive knowledge of the service" he would have known if there was a murder plot, as suggested by Dodi's father Mohamed al Fayed.

Sir Richard directly rebutted Mr al Fayed's claims that the couple were killed by MI6 on the orders of the Duke of Edinburgh. The idea that Prince Philip, the main culprit in Mohamed al Fayed's theory, joined forces with the security services in running the country was "utterly ridiculous", according to Sir Richard. The hearing continues.