Diana death 'linked to land mines trade'

Michael Mansfield QC, who represented Mohamed al-Fayed in the inquest into the death of his son Dodi and the Princess, said Diana claimed she had an "exposure diary" in which she was going to unmask the people most closely involved with the British manufacturing of land mines.

He told the Hay Festival, in mid Wales, yesterday: "I think everyone remembers she raised the profile of the land mines.

"Everybody is aware that the British involvement in the arms trade, particularly land mines, is and was a huge vested interest.

"It seems to me she had planned various visits.

"She had already been to Angola, she was going to Cambodia."

He added: "A large number of land mines had been manufactured by the British and I think, and a witness who knew her well claimed, that she had an exposure diary in which she was going to expose the people most closely involved in the British arms trade. It seems to me

that is not unrelated (to her death)."

Mr Mansfield said there was a missing box of papers which could contain crucial information.

He said: "Nobody really knows what was in it. The box exists but when it was opened there was nothing in it and everybody has forgotten what was in it.

"I don't know what was in it. It is said there were papers in there, it may have been the diary or notebook she was keeping in relation to the arms trade or it may be other correspondence between the royal family and herself."

Mr Mansfield said he believed the car crash in Paris in 1997 was "more than a mere accident" when he first heard about it.