Diana inquest jury shown photos of crash scene

A series of photographs taken before and after the Paris car crash that claimed the life ofDiana, thePrincess of Wales 10 years ago were made public for the first time Wednesday when they were shown toan inquest jury in London.

In one of the last photographs taken of Diana before she died,she's facing away from the camera,looking out the back of aMercedes, presumably to watch pursuing paparazzi as the car pulled away from the Ritz Hotel.

In the same photo, directly in front of the princess is her bodyguard, Trevor Rees-Jones, who is raising a hand as camera flashes flood the car's interior.

Diana's companion, Dodi Al Fayed, is obscured by driver Henri Paul. Only Rees-Jones survived the crash on Aug. 31, 1997, when Paul crashed the vehicle into a pillar in the Alma underpass.

The next photo shown during Day 2of the inquest was taken seconds after the fatal impact. The car has already hit the pillar and spun around to hit the other wall. A man in a grey jacket and who is standing to the left of the smoking wreckage is photographer Serge Arnal, who appears to have been driving ahead of the limousine.

The damage to the car is evident; the impact was so severe that the exhaust system fell off the rear end.

The next two photos show the extent of the damage. In one, firefighters have cut away the car's roof to free the princess and her bodyguard, who are trapped in the wreckage.

The final shot illustrates just how catastrophic the crash was. It shows the front end of the car demolished.

Anothervideo stillshows a smiling Dianaand Al Fayed in the hotel elevator before they left the Ritz.

These pictures, many notpublicly released until now,are part of the evidence the jury will consider over the next six months. They were released along with maps showing the route the limousine took on the night of the crash.

Next week, thesix women and five men on the jurywill travel to Paris to see the scene of the crash first-hand.

No pregnancy tests conducted

In another development, the coroner conducting the inquest said the inquiry is unlikely to reach a scientific conclusion on whether Diana was pregnant at the time she died — a possibility that is key to the allegation she was murdered.

Lord Justice Scott Baker said the princess had not given any indication to her doctor, family, friends or associates that she was pregnant.

Fayed's father, Mohammed Al Fayed, has alleged that Prince Philip, the Queen's husband, directed British secret service agents in a conspiracy to murder the couple, in part because she was carrying Dodi Al Fayed's child.

Baker told jurors that no pregnancy tests were conducted on Diana's body, although two British pathologists concluded there were no visible signs of a pregnancy. However, at an early stage of a pregnancy there might be no visible signs, he added.