The Shield of Achilles: £2,229,371.54 pounds sterling

Monday, February 18, 2008

£2,229,371.54 pounds sterling

Is the equivalent of $4,352,241.98 US dollars, or €2,969,277.07 Euros. This is, according to official UK figures, the amount of money that has been wasted so far on fishing for conspiracy theories in the latest Princess Diana inquest. The British tabloids have been making a bundle off of this, and the panel has had fun trips to Paris and been able to meet several celebrities, but the British taxpayers are the ones who are being cheated here.

As I explained a few months back, the British and French already completed their investigations long ago, and found nothing other than an accident caused by excessive speed and drunk driving.

Unfortunately, this third inquiry came about due to the constant bullying, harassment, and outlandish accusations of Egyptian-born millionaire Mohammed Al-Fayed. He has convinced himself that his son Dodi (who also died in the crash) was the victim of an assassination plot by MI6, the CIA, and the British Royal family. According to his latest testimony:

"I'm in no doubt whatsoever that my son and Princess Diana were murdered by the British security services on the orders of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh", Mr Al Fayed replied: "Yes."

He pinpointed driver Henri Paul, alleged security forces in the ambulance crew, the then British Ambassador to France Sir Michael Jay, the princess's brother-in-law Sir Robert Fellowes and former Prime Minister Tony Blair as all being involved in the plot.

And he said Prince Charles was complicit, hoping to make way so he could marry "his crocodile wife" Camilla Parker Bowles.

Why not accuse musician Elton John while you are at it?

He also now claims that Diana confided in him that her in-laws were out to kill her, and that she was pregnant with Dodi's child. Very personal information, that somehow she didn't even share with her sons, her doctor, or her closest friends (whose testimony earlier contradicted Mr. Al-Fayed at every turn). There also was no indication that Diana was pregnant from her autopsy.

Moreover, Mr. Al-Fayed has yet to provide us with an explanation of just how the British Secret Service somehow made the crash happen (the driver also died, and was an employee of Al-Fayed in any case).

Just to show a little more of this man's paranoid lunacy:

In his evidence, Mr Al Fayed branded Prince Philip a "Nazi" and a "racist" and said: "It's time to send him back to Germany from where he comes."

"You want to know his original name - it ends with Frankenstein," he added.

After this farce is concluded, I hope the criminal justice system charges Mr. Al-Fayed with slander, false accusations, perjury, and extortion, and then deports him back to his native Egypt (one can dream). Good riddance.