About UPI  |  UPI en Español   |   My Account
Free News Update:
United Press International - News. Analysis. Insight.™ - 100 Years of Journalistic Excellence
  • Home
  • Top News
  • Entertainment
  • Odd News
  • Sports
    • Baseball
    • Football
    • Golf
    • Olympics 2008
    • Tennis
  • Business
  • Science
  • Health
  • Analysis
    • Energy Resources
    • Security Industry
    • Emerging Threats
  • Media
    • Video
    • News Photos
  • Features
    • The Voice of Young Voters
    • Path to the Presidency
    • Energy
    • Beijing Olympics 2008
Search:
Go
You are here:  Home / Top News / Waiter: Diana driver drunk before crash

Top News

View archive | RSS Feed

Waiter: Diana driver drunk before crash

Published: Dec. 21, 2007 at 5:03 PM
Order reprints  |  Print Story  |  Email to a Friend  |  Post a Comment
People who read this also read ...
  • Ritz manager urged Henri Paul not to drive
  • Diana watched Dodi die, officer testifies
  • Photographer avoids Diana inquest
  • Inquest: Diana planned worldwide hospice
  • Friend: Diana didn't plan to marry Fayed
  • Fayed a distraction, Diana inquest reveals
  • Princess Diana's letters read at inquest
  • Worried Diana to wed Fayed, countess says
  • Ritz manager: Diana driver was drinking
LONDON, Dec. 21 (UPI) -- A waiter at the Ritz Hotel in Paris has told a British inquest that the man who drove Princess Diana to her death was too drunk to walk straight.

Alain Willaumez, testifying from France Thursday by video link, said Ritz Hotel managers told him to lie to Paris police about Henri Paul's drunkenness, saying that he had been drinking fruit juice, The Sun reported.

Princess Diana, Paul and Dodi Fayed, son of the owner of the Ritz and Harrods Department Store in London, were killed in the 1997 crash. Paul was head of security at the hotel.

"When he left the bar he bumped into one of my colleagues," Willaumez testified.

"It was not a precise and accurate walk. He was walking like a clown. He was staggering like a drunk."

Also Thursday, Richard Kay, a journalist who had become close to Diana, said that she had called him a few hours before her death and said she was thinking of moving out of Britain.

French investigators concluded that Paul was to blame for the crash, which occurred as he tried to elude photographers. But Mohammed al-Fayed, Dodi Fayed's father, contends that British agents set up the crash.

RATE THIS ARTICLE
    Poor    1    2    3    4    5  Excellent    
Feedback


© 2007 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Have an opinion? Leave a comment. No Registration Required.
News Photos Slideshows
Photos of the Day
Week in Photos
News
Entertainment
Sports
Features
Archives
Olympics 2008
Path to the Presidency
Additional News Stories
Top News
  • FOX News poll: Obama leads McCain
  • Iceland's banking crisis threatens Britain
  • GOP's Christopher Buckley backs Obama
  • Pedophile strangled in Britain
  • Serbia expels ambassadors over Kosovo
Business News
  • Morgan Stanley, Mitsubishi may renegotiate
  • UPI NewsTrack Business
  • Amtrak sets ridership record, revenue up
  • S. Korea to privatize, restructure firms
  • Brunswick folding game chairs recalled
Entertainment News
  • Garber: Garner 'beautiful' while pregnant
  • Holocaust musical headed to West End
  • Co-star: Rourke cut own head for film
  • Aykroyd pitches in on vodka campaign
  • Leachman to be Roses grand marshal
Health News
  • Plastic surgery makes advances in wartime
  • Lack of vitamin D can affect 36 organs
  • Abnormalities in brain of cocaine addicts
  • Negative ads can cause a physical reaction
  • Wildfires can boost ozone pollution
UPI Features - The Voice of Young Voters
Most Popular
Stories
Photos
Videos
People
1.
Iran recasts report on U.S. jet
2.
Melamine found in Cadbury products
3.
Ukraine leader dissolves parliament
4.
40 hurt when Qantas plane forced to land
5.
Report: North Korea's Kim seen in public




Videos
Enlarge Video
Reaction: Does peace have a prize?
Reaction: Does peace have a prize?
Friday, October 10
From Wall Street to a Maryland Main Street
From Wall Street to a Maryland Main Street
Friday, October 10
Debate #2: The economy
Debate #2: The economy
Friday, October 10
Economics vs. foreign policy in the media
Economics vs. foreign policy in the media
Thursday, October 9
© 2008 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Official Government Wires  |   About UPI  |   Site Map  |   Terms of Use  |   Privacy Policy  |   Advertise Online  |   Contact Us

Sponsored Links: Auto Dealers - College Football Tickets - Fundraisers - Press Release Services - prom dresses - Prom dresses and gowns - Public Records - Wedding and Honeymoon Experts - Motivational Sports Speakers Bureau