Diana driver 'drunk before crash'

Princess Diana died in a Paris car crash in 1997

Princess Diana's driver, Henri Paul, was drunk just hours before their fatal crash, her inquest has heard.

Alain Willaumez, a barman at the Ritz Hotel, in Paris, said Mr Paul was "walking like a clown" and bumped into one of his colleagues.

Mr Willaumez denied lying and did not comment on other people's statements saying the driver did not seem drunk.

Diana and her boyfriend, Dodi Al Fayed, died when their Mercedes crashed in the Pont de l'Alma on 31 August 1997.

The inquest heard Mr Paul had been in the hotel's bar twice for a total of about 40 minutes from 2200 local time on 30 August 1997.

'Abnormal condition'

In a statement to police Mr Willaumez had claimed to have seen Mr Paul "staggering like a drunk".

"I could see first through his eyes and also the way he talked, but more especially in his eyes," said Mr Willaumez, who spoke through an interpreter via videolink from Paris.

"His eyes were brilliant, wide open and he was visibly in an abnormal condition."

Mr Paul left the bar and bumped into a colleague, Mr Willaumez claimed.

He had not a precise walk. He was walking like a clown, a little bit like a clown Alain Willaumez

He said: "He had not a precise walk. He was walking like a clown, a little bit like a clown."

Mr Willaumez denied he had told lies to blacken Mr Paul's name and said he could not comment on statements from other people there that night claiming Mr Paul did not seem drunk.

He also claimed that, on the day after the crash, the president of the hotel told him to say the driver had been drinking fruit juice and did not appear to be drunk.

Earlier, the inquest heard Diana had been in discussions with Mohamed Al Fayed about setting up a global hospice network.

Richard Kay - diary editor of the Daily Mail and its former royal correspondent - told the court she had told him that Mohamed Al Fayed - Dodi's father - would fund "The Diana Hospices".

'Old ghosts'

Jurors also heard that Diana ruled out plans for her and boyfriend Dodi Al Fayed to live in the Paris home of Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson.

Henri Paul is alleged to have been drunk just hours before the crash

The inquest heard Mr Al Fayed had wanted them to settle at Villa Windsor, where the ex-monarch lived after abdicating.

Mr Kay said Diana rejected the idea, using a phrase like "it was full of old ghosts".

He said the princess told him it was her "destiny" to live abroad, although he made it clear that Villa Windsor - which at the time was owned by Dodi - did not appeal to her.

She said she longed for a private life and that Britons must be "sick of seeing me in the papers", Mr Kay added.

Hospice plan

Mr Kay said he had spoken to the princess in a telephone call hours before the Paris car crash on 31 August 1997 that killed her, Dodi Al Fayed and their driver Henri Paul.

He told the court: "She told me that she was discussing with Mr Al Fayed Senior the possibility of setting up some sort of worldwide hospice network which she indicated he would be prepared to financially underwrite."

He added that her desire to start a new life outside of the UK was "a frequent topic".

The former Daily Mail royal correspondent said the princess told him she was keen to escape the media spotlight - especially the paparazzi.