Prince Charles may be questioned over Diana's death

Britain's most senior policeman John Stevens said yesterday he would question royal family members, including Prince Charles, if it was necessary for his investigation into Princess Diana's death.

The Daily Mirror tabloid this month published a letter written by Diana before she died in a 1997 Paris road crash in which she said Prince Charles, her former husband, was "planning an accident" to kill her.

Asked specifically on BBC television's HardTalk programme if he would be prepared to question Prince Charles, Mr Stevens said: "Absolutely".

Royal coroner Michael Burgess asked Mr Stevens, London's Metropolitan Police Commissioner, earlier this month to investigate allegations that Diana's death was not an accident but a deliberate plot. Mr Stevens pledged to try and settle the question of how Diana died once and for all.

"You have my word we will look at this and by the time this inquiry has finished and we've looked at every single part of these allegations, we will know what the truth of the matter is," said Mr Stevens.

"I'm going to do my very best to make sure that we can put this to rest one way or the other," he said.

Diana, whose marriage to Prince Charles broke down in 1992 and later ended in divorce, was killed along with her lover Dodi al Fayed and their chauffeur Henri Paul in the Paris crash.

Dodi's father, Mohamed al Fayed, owner of exclusive London store Harrods, has alleged his son and Diana were murdered by British secret services because their relationship was embarrassing the royal household.

An inquiry by French authorities in 1999 ruled the crash was caused by Paul being drunk and driving too fast.