Queen, Prince Philip won't testify at Di inquest: Coroner

London, March 8 : Queen Elizabeth II and her husband Prince Philip will not be called to testify at the ongoing inquest into the death of Princess Diana, the coroner has ruled.

Mohamed Al Fayed, father of Diana's lover Dodi, who also died in the Paris car crash in August 1997, lost his bid to compel the royal couple to give evidence at the inquest after coroner Lord Justice Scott Baker ruled that it is not expedient to call the Duke of Edinburgh and the Queen to testify.

The Harrods boss had predominantly wanted Prince Philip to be a witness as he maintains that the royal was behind an establishment plot to murder the couple.

Fayed's QC Michael Mansfield said he wanted to ask the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh questions personally so the answers could be read out at the London High Court hearing.

However, judge Scott Baker said: "In my judgment it is not expedient to call the Duke of Edinburgh (Prince Philip) to give evidence, nor do I think the Queen should be asked to answer the questions posed" by Mohamed Al-Fayed's lawyer.

"Neither step will, in my judgment, further the inquest process," he said after a 90-minute debate between lawyers.

Al-Fayed has constantly circulated the theory that Diana and his son were killed by British intelligence at Prince Philip's command because of opposition to the mother of the future king marrying a Muslim and having his child.

ANI