London, Oct 18 : Princess Diana was rumoured to be on the verge of announcing a pregnancy or an engagement to beau Dodi Al Fayed on the day she died, the inquest into her death has heard.

A witness told the jury members that paparazzi had been told to expect an announcement.

Thierry Orban, a photographer, told police that he had been at home in Paris when his chief editor called him between 9pm and 9.30pm and asked him to go to the Ritz Hotel because an announcement was expected.

“He told me that there were rumours of an announcement that Lady Diana was getting married or having a baby and asked me to go to the Ritz Hotel,” The Sun quoted him, as stating in a statement read to the jury.

Mr Orban, of the Sigma picture agency, told the jury that though he had at first refused to go to the hotel, he went to the Pont de l’Alma tunnel after the crash.

He stayed at the scene of the crash until a police car carrying a group of photographers and the Princess’s ambulance left.

He also revealed that he had photographed the ambulance when it stopped just a short distance from the Pitie Salpetriere Hospital when Diana’s condition took a turn for the worse.

He said: “The ambulance stopped, the driver got out and got into the back, that was when I took the only photograph of the ambulance which in any case was blurry.

“It was rocking as if they were doing cardiac massage.

“Then the ambulance carried on to the Pitie Salpetriere Hospital. From there I turned back.” (ANI)