A court in Egypt has adjourned a case against the British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, and Queen Elizabeth, over the death of Diana, Princess of Wales.

Dodi al-Fayed frequently holidayed with Diana last summer

The Queen and Mr Blair are accused of plotting to kill Princess Diana because of her relationship with a Muslim, the Egyptian-born Dodi al-Fayed. The Princess and Mr al-Fayed died, together with their driver, in a car crash in Paris last year.

The court said it was postponing the case until the end of March because the British Embassy in Cairo still had not been formally notified of the legal action against the Queen. That is the same reason the judge gave for putting off the case almost two months ago.

The lawyer who filed the $170,000 suit, Nabih Alwahsi, asked the court to speed up the procedural work and demanded to know why it was taking so long.

Queen Elizabeth and Tony Blair are unlikely to be put in the dock

The BBC's Correspondent in Cairo says it is likely that the judge has an interest in delaying a case that is almost certainly out of his jurisdiction, and could create embarrassing publicity.

It is not uncommon for nationalistic lawyers in Egypt to file cases against the leaders of other countries for crimes that allegedly insult or hurt Egyptians. Like most of these suits, this one is not expected to get very far.

The story of 'Di and Dodi' has fascinated Egyptians, many of whom believe that Buckingham Palace, along with British intelligence, was determined to prevent a Muslim from becoming the stepfather of the future king.

The subject of whether they planned to marry, whether Diana converted to Islam, and who killed the happy couple, has inspired at least six books and a feature film.
 

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