THE most experienced woman judge in Britain, Dame Elizabeth Butler-Sloss, has been lined up to preside over the inquest into the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, which is scheduled to be held next year.
The Times has learnt that Dame Elizabeth, 73, who retired last year as President of the High Court’s Family Division, has been approached to take the highly sensitive case, which will attract worldwide attention. Her conclusions will be among the most scrutinised in legal history.
Last month Michael Burgess, the Coroner of the Royal Household, unexpectedly withdrew from the case, citing his heavy workload in his other role as the Surrey Coroner.
Dame Elizabeth’s appointment has not been officially confirmed but a senior government official told The Times that only a few formalities remained to be completed.
There will be separate inquests into the deaths of Diana and Dodi Fayed nine years ago this week. The inquests will examine the conspiracy theories championed by Mohamed Al Fayed, the chairman of Harrods, who has alleged that the Princess was murdered on the orders of the Royal Family because she was expecting his son’s child.
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The Princess died in August 1997 after a chauffeur, Henri Paul, lost control of the Mercedes in which she was a passenger with Dodi Fayed, in the Pont de l’Alma road tunnel in Paris. The only survivor was Trevor Rees-Jones, the bodyguard, the sole occupant of the car wearing a seat belt. A long French investigation concluded that M Paul was drunk.
Clarence House has consistently declined to make any public comment on the inquest but the prospect of Dame Elizabeth conducting proceedings will be a huge comfort to the Prince of Wales and to Prince William and Prince Harry, who were 15 and 12 at the time.
One senior source said: “We know of her [Butler-Sloss’s] name and of her reputation. The boys are very eager for the whole thing to be dealt with. The way that it has dragged on has been very frustrating for everyone.”
The Prince of Wales is not expecting to be called as a witness to the inquest, which will start after a report into the accident is delivered by Lord Stevens of Kirkwhelpington, the former Metropolitan Police Commissioner, who has taken 1,500 statements from witnesses. The Prince was interviewed by Lord Stevens; his sons were not.
Dame Elizabeth is thought to be willing to come out of retirement to handle what will be one of the most difficult court cases in living memory. During a career in which she handled some of the most contentious and sensitive family cases, involving life and death issues, she forged a reputation as a humane but “no nonsense” judge.
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Politics as well as law are in her family: she once stood as a Tory candidate and her brother was the late Lord Havers, who was a Conservative Attorney-General and, briefly, Lord Chancellor. Her nephew is the actor Nigel Havers. Her husband was a High Court judge in Kenya.
The inquests into the deaths of the Princess and Mr Fayed were formally opened by Mr Burgess in 2004 after a lengthy delay because of the police investigation in France. There was a further delay as Lord Stevens pursued his inquiries. His interim findings are expected to be released by Christmas.
Dame Elizabeth will be formally recommended for the post by Lord Falconer of Thoroton, the Lord Chancellor.
Officially Dame Elizabeth will be appointed a deputy coroner. There are provisions in the Coroners’ Act for judges to hear inquests and such a move is not unprecedented.
Dame Elizabeth first came to public prominence when she chaired the Cleveland child abuse inquiry in 1987-88. She granted lifetime anonymity orders for the killers of James Bulger and she gave a paralysed woman the right to have her ventilator switched off.
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A friend of Mr Al Fayed said they had feared that an Establishment “mouthpiece” would be appointed, but Dame Elizabeth was not that. However, the friend added that she was very close to the judicial establishment. “Whether she will be sufficiently robust to stand up to that Establishment remains to be seen.”