DIANA PRINCESS OF WALES - ROYAL CORONER QUITS DIANA INQUIRY

ROYAL CORONER QUITS DIANA INQUIRY

The inquest into DIANA, PRINCESS OF WALES' death faces further controversy after royal coroner MICHAEL BURGESS removed himself from the inquiry. Burgess has blamed "work pressures" for his reluctance to continue with the inquest, but it is believed the real reason behind his sudden departure is down to mounting pressure from the British government as the controversy surrounding the late princess' death grows. Diana and lover DODI FAYED were killed when their car crashed at high speed in a Paris tunnel in August 1997. Burgess, who reopened the investigation into their deaths in 2004, has been subjected to conflicting interests with royal aides encouraging him to stamp out conspiracy theories, including Dodi's father businessman MOHAMED AL FAYED's repeated insistences that the pair were assassinated. An official report into the incident is due to be released in a month but it now seems likely that the inquest will not happen for a further year.