London, Dec 8: The Duke of Edinburgh's closest aide is to testify at the inquest into the deaths of Princess Diana and her boyfriend Dodi Al Fayed, it has been announced.

Private secretary Brigadier Sir Miles Hunt-Davis will appear at the hearing next week, and is certain to be asked about Dodi’s father Mohamed al Fayed's claim that the Duke ordered Diana's "murder" in a car crash in Paris in 1997.

Fayed is convinced the couple were murdered in an MI6 plot which he believes was ordered by the Prince Phillip. He believes the couple were poised to announce their engagement when they died and that Diana was pregnant with Dodi's child.

Sir Miles is likely to be asked about the whereabouts of correspondence between the Duke and the Princess, reports BBC.

The Princess' close friend Rosa Monkton and her stepmother Raine, Countess Spencer, are also listed to give evidence.

Others listed include Philippe Doucin, a barman who says he sold drinks to driver Henri Paul at the Ritz Hotel in Paris on the night of the crash, and Dr Arnaud Derossi, who co-ordinated the medical response at the scene of the tragedy in the Pont de l'Alma tunnel in the early hours of August 31 1997.

Also due to appear is Alberto Repossi, a jeweller visited by Dodi hours before the crash. (ANI)