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Duke 'sent Diana cruel letters' | |
(9 minutes later) | |
The Duke of Edinburgh wrote cruel and disparaging letters to Princess Diana, an alternative therapist has told the inquest into her death. | |
Simone Simmons, who practises "energy healing", said the princess had shown her two letters from Prince Philip dating from 1994 or 1995. | |
She told the London hearing that they were "derogatory" . | |
Diana and her companion Dodi Al Fayed died along with their driver in a Paris car crash in August 1997. | |
The BBC's Nicholas Witchell says Ms Simmons first met Diana in 1993 and had an ongoing friendship with the princess, although the pair did fall out several times. | |
She told the inquest that one of the letters from Prince Philip she had seen was handwritten, and the other was typewritten. | |
I believed that if they could bump Diana off, then they could bump anyone off - and I value my life Simone Simmons | |
"Diana read one out to me," she said. "She was absolutely furious, she was imitating the duke's voice at the time and at the end she said: 'What a cheek.'" | |
Ms Simmons said the duke had made observations' about the propriety of the princess's behaviour. | |
Ms Simmons also said Diana had given her a copy of a dossier about the landmine industry she had compiled during her campaign against the weapons. | |
Ms Simmons said she had hidden this under her mattress, along with other documents from the princess. | |
Safety fears | Safety fears |
The therapist said the dossier was several inches thick but that she had burnt it after Diana's death because she was afraid of what might happen to her. | |
She said: "I believed that if they could bump Diana off, then they could bump anyone off - and I value my life." | |
However, just before she left the witness box, Ms Simmons agreed with counsel for the inquest that no member of the Royal Family "would ever have harmed" the princess. | |
The jury at the inquest has previously seen extracts of other letters between Diana and Prince Philip. | |
That correspondence, presented to the High Court hearing by Prince Philip's private secretary, Brigadier Sir Miles Hunt-Davis, dates from between June and September 1992. | |
In those handwritten replies, Diana referred to him as "Dearest Pa" and praised his "great understanding and tact". | In those handwritten replies, Diana referred to him as "Dearest Pa" and praised his "great understanding and tact". |
The inquest continues. | The inquest continues. |