Princes William and Harry agree with Diana death verdict

London: Princess Diana's two sons, Princes William and Harry, released a statement on Monday saying they agreed with a jury's verdict that their mother and her boyfriend Dodi Fayed were victims of reckless speed and a drunk driver on a frantic, fatal chase through Paris in 1997.

The princes said in the statement, "We agree with their verdicts, and are both hugely grateful to each and every one of them for the forbearance they have shown in accepting such significant disruption to their lives over the past six months."

Rejecting claims by Al Fayed's father, Mohammad Al Fayed, that the couple was murdered, the jury concluded on Monday after six months of testimony that the couple was unlawfully killed, the equivalent of manslaughter, by their driver, Henri Paul, and the paparazzi who pursued them.

That was the verdict of nine of the 11 jurors. There was no indication why there were two dissenters.

All 11 agreed that the fact that the car slammed head on into a concrete pillar, rather than striking the wall on the other side, was a key factor. The jury also faulted Diana and Fayed for not buckling their seat belts.

Al Fayed unsurprisingly declared that the jury got it wrong. As he left the Royal Courts of Justice, he said, "The most important thing is, it is murder."