London, Nov 30: Mohamed Al Fayed was convinced that the crash in which his son Dodi and Princess Diana died was a "plot," within seconds of receiving the news of the tragedy, the ongoing inquest into the couple’s deaths has heard.

Franz Klein, the president of the Ritz hotel in Paris, said he had telephoned Fayed about 20 minutes after the accident on August 31, 1997.

Klein, also known as Frank, told the jury at London's high court that during the conversation with Fayed he had referred to the crash as an accident, but the Harrod’s owner insisted that it was a “plot or an assassination.”

"I said, 'Mr Fayed, very sorry to disturb you, there has been a terrible accident … Dodi passed away and the driver', and Mr Fayed said, 'Sorry,’” the Daily Mail quoted Klein, as saying.

"Mr Fayed said, 'What about the princess?' and I said, 'The information I have is she's alive', the only thing I knew, and I said, 'an accident', that I said definitely.

"Mr Fayed, very calm, said to me, 'Frank, this is not an accident, this is a plot or an assassination'.

"I said, 'You cannot say that, it's an accident' and he said, 'Frank, I know more than you know, more than you think'. Then I think the conversation was over,” he added.

When Klein later asked Al Fayed why he thought the couple had been murdered, the tycoon referred to a conversation he had with Diana when she talked about "things that happened with her in the UK".

Klein claimed that Dodi had told him weeks before the crash that he was going to get engaged.

He said Dodi had also revealed plans for the couple to settle in Paris at Villa Windsor - the house where the former Edward VIII and Wallace Simpson lived in exile after the former's abdication. At the time, the house was owned by Fayed.

"He [Dodi] did not mention the princess by name but he did tell me that he was going to stay in Paris, to live, he told me he was going to move to the Villa Windsor with his girlfriend and he told me that they were going to get married,” he said.

Klein told the court that Dodi had chosen a ring from the Repossi jewellers' Dis-moi oui (Tell me Yes) range hours before the crash.

The engagement ring, paid for by Mohamed Al Fayed, was recovered from Dodi's apartment in Paris after the accident, although the court has seen no evidence to suggest he presented the ring to Diana.

Fayed, who was sitting only a few yards from Klein as he gave evidence, claims that the couple were assassinated on the orders of Prince Philip to prevent them marrying because the Royal Family was not prepared for a Muslim to become stepfather to the future king, Prince William. (ANI)