London police: Soldier's story no reason to reopen Princess Diana case

LONDON, Dec. 17 (UPI) -- London police have concluded a soldier's story of helping to kill Princess Diana is no grounds for a new investigation, a top official said Monday.

Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley said detectives with the Metropolitan Police have found nothing to support the claim, the Daily Star reported. The man, identified only as Soldier N, said his special forces unit used a bright light to blind the driver of the Mercedes carrying the princess and her lover, Dodi Fayed, son of Egyptian tycoon Mohamed al-Fayed.

"I am satisfied that there is no evidential basis upon which therefore to reopen any criminal homicide investigation or refer the matter back to the coroner," Rowley said.

Conspiracy theorists, including the elder Fayed, have suggested the 1997 crash in a Paris underpass, which killed Diana, Fayed, and the driver, Henri Paul, was engineered by people within the British government or royal family. One theory is that Diana, divorced from Prince Charles and mother to his heir, Prince William, was carrying Fayed's child.

The crash has been investigated by both British and French authorities who have determined Paul had been drinking and the crash occurred as he tried to evade news photographers pursuing the couple. A lengthy inquest in London failed to find any evidence of an assassination.

Soldier N's story came to light after he was arrested in 2011. He was sharing a house with Danny Nightingale, a sniper who was later convicted of bringing a gun back illegally from Iraq.