Photographer attacks inquest 'lies'

Coroner Lord Justice Scott Baker told the jury that Mr Rat had received a summons from French officials to give evidence by video link from Paris but had given no indication that he would agree.

As the court assembled, the coroner confirmed that Mr Rat had since been in contact to say he was not prepared to give evidence "either today or any day".

The inquest has heard claims that, rather than stopping to help the Princess at the scene of her fatal car crash in Paris, Mr Rat telephoned from the tunnel offering exclusive pictures of Diana in the wreck of her Mercedes for £300,000.

But in an email to author Martyn Gregory, Mr Rat described the allegations as "defamatory".

He said he would be attentive to his "honour" and highlighted how the French court of appeal had found seven years ago that he had indeed stopped to help.

"This allegation is a total lie and defamatory and I will be very attentive in respect of my honour," he wrote to Mr Gregory, author of the book Diana: The Last Days.

The allegation came in an interview given by Kenneth Lennox, the former picture editor of The Sun, to the makers of a Channel 4 documentary.

Mr Lennox said he was woken up by a phone call on the night of the crash offering him pictures of Diana in the car for £300,000 and identified the caller as Romuald Rat.

But giving evidence in person, Mr Lennox said he accepted it could not have been Mr Rat as he had already been arrested by French police at the time of the call.