, which is taking place in London , must decide whether the deaths of Diana and Dodi on August 31 , 1997 was an accident or murder . It is expected to be a six-month process . Al Fayed says Diana and his son were murdered because the British royal family `` could not accept that an Egyptian Muslim could eventually be step-father to the future king of England , '' referring to Prince William , the son of Diana and her former husband , Prince Charles . The elaborate efforts of Diana and Dodi to give the paparazzi the slip in the minutes before the tragedy in the Pont de l'Alma tunnel were also shown in a new video . Jurors were shown second-by-second security footage of the couple 's efforts to escape the Ritz Hotel undetected . The images show how security staff choreographed a decoy exit in an effort to distract a swelling pack of press photographers and onlookers . But even as Diana and Dodi are led through the bowels of the hotel and out through a service doorway , paparazzi lie in wait . The security footage shows Diana , Dodi 's arm around her
LONDON , England -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- The driver of the limousine in which Princess Diana and her lover Dodi Fayed were killed spent time in a bar shortly before the 1997 Paris crash , a jury at an inquest into her death has heard . But the jury also watched video from security cameras at the Ritz that gives no outward sign that Henri Paul was drunk when the Mercedes he was driving crashed in an underpass while being chased by paparazzi , as both French and British police have concluded . Paul is seen squatting in the lobby of the hotel to tie his shoe laces , shifting his weight from one foot to another and rising steadily . He is also shown bounding up stairs two at a time . The jury has already heard that Paul ordered two Ricards - an aniseed spirit - that night after arriving at the hotel . The father of the princess 's lover Dodi Fayed , Ritz owner Mohamed al Fayed , says Paul was not drunk and that the samples were switched after the tragedy . Watch footage of Diana 's last hours '' The purpose of the inquest