Paparazzi snappers took pictures of Princess Diana’s dying moments rather than go to her aid as she lay crumpled in the back of her smashed up Mercedes, the inquest into her death heard yesterday.

Stunned jurors were handed the graphic images which show photographers grabbing shots seconds after the crash while the doors of the wrecked car were still closed and the princess was clinging to life.
One is even pictured leaning into the back of the motor, camera pressed to his face, as Diana lies slumped on the floor with horrific injuries next to her dying lover Dodi Fayed. The black Merc can also be seen still smoking.

Other shots show Dr Frederic Mailliez desperately trying to save the princess on the rear seat then a team of paramedics battling to resuscitate her as she lies on the pavement.

Inspector Paul Carpenter, who collated the 140 images taken by eight paparazzi, talked jurors through the disturbing pictures.

Michael Mansfield QC, representing Dodi’s father Mohamed al Fayed, asked him: “Obviously the paparazzi on the scene had no compunction about taking pictures of the victims both inside the car and being carried outside the car.”

Mr Carpenter replied: “None whatsoever, Sir.”

The paparazzi had trailed Diana and Dodi from the Ritz hotel in Paris to the Alma tunnel where the Mercedes, driven by Henri Paul, crashed. One of the pictures shows the princess’s body bent double. Her face was pixelated out but Diana’s distinctive blonde hair made her easily recognisable.

In another shot, her white trouser leg is sticking up and backwards and then dangling out of the back of the car.

The inquest, at the High Court in London, was also shown police mugshots of 17 of the paparazzi who were arrested at the crash scene but later released without charge.

Richard Keen QC, for Mr Paul’s family, showed a series of eight pictures taken by one photographer. He asked Mr Carpenter: “Do you notice that in every single one of these photographs the door of the Mercedes is still closed?

“So rather than approach the Mercedes and open the door to assist or ascertain the condition of those inside, what we have is someone who is simply walking past the vehicle for the purposes of taking photographs?”

Mr Carpenter: “That’s correct.”

One shot captured photographer Romuald Rat squatted down next to the open door of the Mercedes after the crash.

Mr Keen claimed the snapper had even walked past the smoking wreckage to get a shot of the front.

Witness Noe da Silva told how he saw several photographers crowding around the smashed car as he drove in the tunnel.

The trainee French radio journalist said: “None of the car doors were open on the side I could see.

“I saw blood, airbags and silhouettes in the car. I was very shocked because I could even see people in the windscreen.

I said to myself that if these people were taking photos, the injured must have been taken out and the people I saw were dead.

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Neither Mohamed al Fayed nor Diana’s sister Lady Sarah McCorquodale were not in court to see the distressing images. But Dodi’s dad arrived later and was seen flicking through the dossier.

Other shots showed Diana and Dodi leaving the Ritz. But there were no pictures of the journey from the hotel to the tunnel. Coroner Lord Justice Scott Baker banned the photos, which were seized by police, from being released.

The inquest was adjourned until Monday.