From: steuart@btinternet.com   
      
         From:  cromwell -   
         Date:  Sun, Mar 19 2000 12:00 am   
      
      
   The News of the World 19th March 2000   
      
   Jewellers Secret Video and Riddle of Di and Dodi's Engagement Ring.   
   Exclusive by Neville Thurlbeck.   
      
      
   A French jeweller has released secret video footage which he claims proves   
   Princess Diana and Dodi Al Fayed were engaged to be married when they died.   
      
      
   Alberto Repossi says the video reveals that at 5.30pm on August 30, 1997 -   
   just hourse before Diana and her lover were killed in a car smash - Dodi   
   bought a £60 000 diamond engagement ring for the Princess.   
      
      
   He claims the video proves Princess Diana had said yes to the playboy son of   
   Harrods boss Mohamed Al Fayed, even though the marriage would have appalled   
   the Queen and the British establishment.   
      
      
   Mr Al Fayed insists the ring, which he now keeps in a safe, was bought by   
   his son as an engagement ring for diana, although Trevor Rees-Jones, the   
   bodyguard who survived the crash, has branded the story a "myth"   
      
      
   The time-coded video shows Dodi in Mr Repossi's exclusive shop in Place   
   Vendome, Paris.  Dodi admires the ring for several minutes then heads for   
   the door, leaving Claude Roulet, the deputy managing director of his   
   father's Ritz hotel, to sign the paperwork and take possession of the ring.   
      
      
   The security video shows Mr. Repossi niece Alice Valentin, his wife Gio, two   
   of the shop managers, Emanuele Gobbo and Vito Giove, and the shops doorman   
   Masud Javved were present.   
      
      
   An order for the engagement ring signed by Claude Roultet has been given to   
   the News of the World and Mr. Repossi has signed an affidavit before a   
   lawyer swearing the ring he sold Dodi was an engagement ring.   
      
      
   The order form bears the order number 97/326 and the rings description in   
   French, which translates as 'Engagement ring with brilliant, emerald cut   
   diamonds around a triangular pattern.'   
      
      
   Mr. Repossi said:  "the docket speaks for itself.  It says it is an   
   engagement ring."   
      
      
   He claims the princess and Dodi first spotted the ring in the window of his   
   Monte Carlo shop on August 23 while they were sailing in the south of France   
   on the £20 million yacht Jonikal, owned by Dodi's father.   
      
      
   "It was an engagement ring.  Diana chose it herself and Dodi picked it up   
   from my shop in Paris the night before they died.   
      
      
   "I met them both in St. Tropez and Diana picked the ring herself."  Said Mr   
   Repossi.  Sitting in the study of his luxury villa over looking Monte Carlo,   
   48-year-old Mr Repossi revealed:  "The first call I took about the ring came   
   from a director of the Ritz Hotel in Paris earlier in August 1997.   
      
      
   "He said Dodi Fayed and Diana had seen a ring in my shop in Monte Carlo and   
   wanted to examine it more closely in private.   
      
      
   "Some days later I met both Dodi and Princess Diana in St. Tropez to show   
   them the ring.  It was from my Dis Moi Oui, or Say Yes collection.  It was   
   an engagement ring."   
      
      
   Repossi described the princess as animated and excited about the prospect of   
   buying the ring.   
      
      
   "She seemed very happy indded and Dodi very proud.  I wanted to personally   
   be in charge of this project and I went to Paris at the end of August.   
      
      
   "On August 30, 1997, I was pleased to contribute to the happiness of this   
   legendary couple and Mr. Dodi Al Fayed told me that the princess was   
   particularly attracted by my creations," Said Mr. Repossi.   
      
      
   In his affidavit Mr. Repossi says of Dodi's visit to his Paris shop.  "I   
   certify that Mr. Dodi Al Fayed was in particularly good spirits and that he   
   confidentially informed me of the importance of this gift, which was to be   
   given to Princess Diana to mark a particularly important moment in their   
   lives."   
      
      
   He added:  "In order to avoid any distortion of the facts, I am enclosing   
   herewith a copy of my consignment book, which clearly indicates that the   
   jewel in quesiton was, at this early date, annotated by me as being an   
   engagement ring."   
      
      
   The docket also gives details of a lady's dress ring which was returned on   
   September 3, three days after the couple were killed.  Both rings were taken   
   on approval and payment was to be settled later.  But in the early hours of   
   August 31 drunken chauffeur Henri Paul crashed in the Alma tunnel in Paris,   
   killing the couple and himself.   
      
      
   After the crash, uncertain of the whereabouts of the ring, Mr Repossi   
   launched an insurance claim.  but the bill was later paid by Mohamed Al   
   Fayed.   
      
      
   Mr. Repossi said he was forced to released the video after the Harrods boss   
   threatened to take legal action to make him hand over the tapes.   
      
      
   Mr Al Fayed believes the tapes offer proof that the couple wanted to wed,   
   adding weight to his theory that they were murdered by the British   
   establishment who were outraged at the prospect of the mother of the future   
   king being married to Dodi.   
      
      
   The jeweller received a letter from Jeffrey Byrne, Harrods director of legal   
   affairs, threatening to seek a court order which would 'compel' him to hand   
   over the tapes.   
      
      
   The threat is an idle one.  Repossi owns the copyright as the video cameras   
   are his and the shots were taken on his premises.   
      
      
   But the threat was sufficient for him to break silence.   
      
      
   He said  "It is very important to Mr Al Fayed to prove that his son bought   
   this ring and I am now facing legal action from him unless I help him in   
   this small way.   
      
      
   "It is a very difficult position to be in but my lawyers have advised me   
   that releasing the video is a sensible way of resolving the matter."   
      
      
   Mr Repossi admitted knowing Mr Al Fayed quite well, but claimed he was only   
   revealing details of the ring reluctantly.   
      
      
   "I often stay at the Paris Ritz and I have known Mr Fayed for years," he   
   said.   
      
      
   "I am only doing this because I am being threatened with legal action."   
      
      
   Mr Repossi claims he can not remember where exactly the meeting with Diana   
   and Dodi in St. Tropez took place.   
      
      
   When pressed that it would be reasonable to expect him to remember where he   
   took the most important order of his career, he replied:  "It may have been   
   a kind of a restaurant or a kind of a hotel.  My lawyer has told me only to   
   comment on things which I can prove."   
      
      
   Also, when asked to indentify which finger he had measured for the ring, he   
   replied: "I cannot remember."   
      
      
   We visited Mr Repossi twice in Monte Carlo to press him on these facts, but   
   his answers were always vague.  He said his client based was drawn from the   
   rich and famous who demanded descretion and he could not be seen to divulge   
   too much.   
      
      
      
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