Who killed Diana? Conspiracy theories won't go away

LONDON: The royals did it. It was a secret service plot. Her driver was blinded by a flash of light. Dozens of conspiracy theories continue to circulate about Princess Diana ten years after her death.

Google 'Diana' and 'conspiracy theory' and there are 121,000 entries -- fewer than Elvis (134,000) and John F Kennedy (201,000) but a lot more than Marilyn Monroe (25,100).

Among the more outlandish is the one that Diana, sick of constant media intrusion in her private life, faked her own death and went to live incognito on a tropical island with Dodi Fayed.

Others, focusing on an alleged establishment plot to murder her, have been maintained by Fayed's father Mohamed, the Egyptian-born millionaire owner of the upmarket Harrods department store in west London.

Conspiracy theorists also remember Diana's own words in a 1995 BBC interview after splitting from Prince Charles when she said the royal family now saw her as a "problem" and a "liability" to be dealt with.

Yet a French judicial investigation and a three-year British inquiry into allegations of conspiracy to murder found no evidence to support the claims.

Former Scotland Yard chief John Stevens last December concluded the princess's death was a "tragic accident" caused by her chauffeur Henri Paul travelling at excessive speed while over the alcohol limit for driving.

There was no conspiracy, Diana was not pregnant, there was no indication she was about to marry Dodi, Paul was not blinded by a flashing light and his blood samples were not switched after his death, Stevens said.