Inquest: Diana planned worldwide hospice

PARIS, Dec. 20 (UPI) -- The inquest into the death of Princess Diana and her lover Dodi Fayed heard testimony she planned to open a worldwide hospice network.

Diana revealed her plans in a 30-minute phone call with Daily Mail reporter Richard Kay hours before the August 1997 car accident that killed her, Fayed and their driver, the Mail said Thursday.

"She said she had something else in mind -- another project. She told me she had been discussing with Mr. Fayed Senior the possibility of setting up some form of worldwide hospice network, which she indicated he was prepared to financially underwrite," Kay said.

Kay revealed the hospice program would have been named "The Diana Hospices."

Kay said Diana felt her long campaign against land mines faced a successful end because the Labor government intended to sign an international ban on their use.

Kay also said Diana expressed interest in moving abroad to escape the intrusive paparazzi.

The high court in the inquest heard further testimony the elder Fayed, owner of Harrods, believed Diana and Dodi intended to wed because she was pregnant. However, evidence presented earlier indicated Diana was not pregnant.