Was Henri Paul drunk when he drove the Mercedes into pillar 13 in the Alma tunnel, killing himself, Diana, Princess of Wales, and Dodi Fayed and injuring their bodyguard?
Within days the French authorities said that Paul had been three times over the drink-driving limit. Doubts have emerged over the French procedure for testing blood samples, but there has been no firm evidence to support Mohamed Al Fayed’s claim that they were switched.

Did the paparazzi chasing the Mercedes cause the crash?
It remains unclear, although they may have been a contributory factor. They submitted written statements claiming not to have been close to the car at the time of crash, and not having taken pictures of the dead and dying. Photographic evidence disproved some of their claims.

Were the couple murdered in a plot masterminded by the Duke of Edinburgh and carried out by British secret services?
Sir Richard Dearlove, retired head of MI6, told the hearings that the idea was so preposterous it was off the map. Forget the Bond films, he said: MI6 doesn’t have a licence to kill. But then you would expect spooks to deny everything.

But surely MI6 at least had a file on the Princess?
Not so, said an MI6 lady giving evidence so that press and public could not see her. They did have a file on Mr Al Fayed, opened in the 1980s when he bought Harrods.

Were the Princess’s apartments at Kensington Palace bugged?
A security expert who swept them said he had found nothing definite. A signal he picked up could have been from a mobile phone or a computer.

Did the Princess fear for her safety?
Yes, according to a note she wrote and gave to her lawyer Lord Mishcon, who gave it to the police.

Did the Duke of Edinburgh wish the Princess disposed of?
Alleged letters from Prince Philip to his former daughter-in-law, said to be deeply uncomplimentary, have never been found. Paul Burrell was sent home to Cheshire to find them but returned empty-handed save for some irrelevant garbage.

Was the Princess pregnant?
Several of her close friends told the hearings that her menstrual cycle had been normal two weeks before her death, and that she had been rigorous with her contraception. The British postmortem had shown no sign of pregnancy, and the reason she had been embalmed at the Paris hospital was to stop deterioration of the body on a hot night.

Was she in love with a Pakistani heart surgeon?
Hasnat Khan, who had a two-year affair with the Princess while working at London hospital, submitted a written statement saying that she had dumped him after meeting Mr Fayed in 1997.

Was she about to become engaged to Mr Fayed?
Despite endless debate in court about a ring Mr Fayed is said to have bought for her, Paul Burrell and other witnesses said that she would never have contemplated remarrying without consulting her sons. She was also said to have told confidants that she needed another marriage “like a rash on my face”.

Did she make an enemy of the Establishment because of her campaign against landmines?
Simone Simmons, a complementary therapist, told of overhearing a conversation between the Princess and Nicholas Soames, MP, in which he allegedly warned her off her campaign. But there has been no evidence to suggest that she was a target of the arms industry or any other pro-landmine interests.

What did Paul Burrell talk about in his supposed three-hour conversation with the Queen?
He won’t say, and refuses to return to the witness box. He has alluded to her warning him of “dark forces” at work in the land, but the inquest probably judged him an unreliable witness. He was called to talk about the Princess’s state of mind and to produce evidence that she feared for her life. On the whole, he failed.

Explore Law

• Columnists

• Law Panel

• Law Reports

• Student Law

Times Recommends

• BGC 'set aside £40m to lure Tullett brokers'
• Legal aid review to ensure value
• Fears as 21 magistrates' courts face closure