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It looks to me as though Dame Elizabeth Buler-Sloss PC is going to dispense with a jury and make the judgement herself. That is the logical conclusion from this story
Judge rules out royal Diana inquest
Jury of Windsors deemed inappropriate.
More UK news
http://www.guardian.co.uk/http://www.guardian.co.uk/monarchy/stor ... 08,00.htmlA coroner is not compelled to call a jury: they have discretion.
What is curious here is the reversal of natural sequence. If you think about it, the first question to be answered is whether there should be a jury. If there is a jury, then you go on to decide the source from which it is to be drawn. If no jury, then the source issue does not arise.
So why has Butler Sloss gone about it back to front?
The answer is that they are giving away something that has no value. We have been told of how the Queen "gave way" on the jury issue. But she has had effective control of the corpse for almost ten years, under the pretense that a divorced woman was still somehow "part of the family". Now, finally a divorce judge can see that divorce is final, and realises that a "Jury of Windsors" is actually unlawful.
How quintessencially Windsor!
And the coup de grace will be that there will be no jury at all.The decision for a "Jury of Windsors" was made ten years ago when they grabbed her corpse. Of course it was illegal, but they did it anyway. A bit late to worry about the niceties.
Butler-Sloss can simply accept the Stevens/Paget report ("John Cleary? Never heard of him."). She would then weigh the costs and difficulties of calling a jury against the benefits. She will find the benefits to be minimal - "The investigation has shown it to be simply an accident" - in such a straightforward case.
So it's worth saying a few words about Dame Elizabeth Butler-Sloss PC.
She has no experience whatsoever as a coroner. None. She is a specialist in family law (divorce). The reason she was appointed to preside over THIS inquest is that she is a privy counsellor and has sworn the privy council oath. That oath finishes thus:
And generally in all things you will do as a faithful and true Servant ought to do to Her Majesty. So help you God.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Privy_Coun ... ed_Kingdom
When Diana died the royal coroner was Sir John Burton. But he knew the law and would have nothing to do with the inquest.
So Michael Burgess was appointed deputy royal coroner, because he was already the Coroner for the County of Surrey, where Dodi was resident.
He took over responsibility for both inquests.
He set the terms of reference for the Coroner's report, to be supplied by the Metropolitan Police.
Then in July this year he stood down.
He gave an entirely spurious reason - "pressure of work".
Just think about that. It's a transparently misleading statement by a coroner.
So naturally Dame Elizabeth Butler-Sloss was the obvious candidate
**No relevant experience.
**Chairman of the Security Commision.
**Sworn servant of the Windsors.
So that's the game.
A "Jury of Windsors" is just a bit too obvious.
Much more discreet to go with a single "Windsor Judge".
