Diana inquest will have jury

Since Diana's death in 1997 there have been persistent conspiracy theories that her death was not an accident.

An inquest has still not been held nearly 10 years later.

When the coroner for her inquest was finally appointed she decided to hold the inquest without a jury - she alone would decide the verdict.

ThroneOut criticized this decision. Such an inquest would be seen by those who disbelieve the official version of events as a whitewash.

After legal action by Mohamed Fayed, this decision has now been overturned, and the inquest will proceed with a jury.

It unlikely that true conspiracy buffs will be convinced by anything, including the verdict of a jury of randomly selected people, but for most the selection of an unbiased jury of ordinary members of the public will give much more legitimacy to whatever decision is reached.

Justice must not only be done, but must be seen to be done. A single coroner acting alone may well come to the right decision, but in the eyes of many it would be a verdict that means nothing.

One has to ask why this commonsense decision was not made initially. It will be interesting to see if there is any legal attempt to appeal it, and again leave the decision on this controversial event to a single "estblishment" figure.

For more information see
ThroneOut - Public cannot be trusted with Diana inquest verdict
BBC News - Diana inquest to be heard by jury