This inquest has gone too far

The word “disgrace” is used too liberally, not least by journalists. But no other word will do justice to the cross-examination today of Sir Miles Hunt-Davis, the Duke of Edinburgh’s private secretary, at the Diana Inquest. As Martyn Gregory’s admirable despatches in The Spectator have shown, the whole circus is an embarrassment, giving airtime to Mohammed Fayed’s lurid claims about the death of his son, Dodi, and the Princess a decade ago. It is bad enough that Diana’s family and friends have had to wait so long for a procedure that ought to have been no more than a formality, concluded years ago. But the calling of Sir Miles, a distinguished servant of the monarchy, is outrageous. Of all Fayed’s allegations, the claim that Prince Philip somehow engineered the death of the Princess in league with MI6 is the most offensive: it does not deserve to be dignified by serious legal analysis. The Queen’s husband has been a truly remarkable support to her, to the institution of the monarchy and to the country over many decades. One can only hope that Sir Miles is not detained for too long. The fact that he is appearing at all is, indeed, a disgrace.