The jury in the inquest of Princess Diana has watched CCTV footage from the Ritz Hotel taken in the run-up to the fatal crash.

Inspector Paul Carpenter, of the Metropolitan Police, told the panel of five men and six women there were 43 separate cameras in the hotel in Paris, from where Diana and Dodi Fayed set off on their final journey, and that 31 were relevant to the inquiry.

The first of the DVDs showed members of the paparazzi arriving outside on the afternoon of August 30, 1997.

The jury then viewed footage of Diana and Dodi arriving at the hotel just hours before the fatal collision.

A camera overlooking the back entrance to the Ritz, in Rue Cambon, shows Claude Roulet, deputy to the director of the hotel, waiting outside for the couple, followed by a "fleeting shot" of them arriving.

A camera just inside the door shows the couple follow Mr Roulet into the hotel, followed by bodyguard Trevor Rees Jones, who is wearing an orange shirt.

Insp Carpenter explained to the jury that the next image was taken at 16.32 and shows Dodi and Diana walking through a lobby with columns at the rear of the hotel towards a lift.

The next image shows a smiling Princess getting into the lift alongside Dodi, who stands to her right. They are still accompanied by Mr Roulet, and can be seen to get out of the lift a few seconds later, at exactly 16.35.

The next shot shows Diana and Dodi walking towards the camera down a corridor on the first floor.

"You can see Mr Roulet lead the couple from the back of the hotel towards the front, towards the Imperial Suite," Mr Carpenter said.

Diana and Dodi are then caught on the CCTV in the foyer of the Imperial Suite at 16.38, walking into Room 102.

The footage then moves on to show images of Dodi leaving the hotel to pay a visit to Repossi the jeweller's.

Narrating the footage, taken at 17.06, Insp Carpenter said: "Dodi al Fayed appears on the left and Trevor Rees Jones will then depart at that stage. He goes downstairs to arrange the departure of Dodi to go to Repossi's with Mr Roulet."

The jury was then shown CCTV images starting at 17.37 which show Dodi, wearing a dark-coloured blazer and jeans, leaving the Imperial Suite and walking down the corridor with Mr Rees Jones.

He is then seen walking down a staircase into the Hall Vendome, at the front of the hotel.

An image taken outside the front of the hotel on the Place Vendome, Mr Carpenter says, shows Henri Paul standing next to a Mercedes which will take Dodi to Repossi's.

Dodi is then seen to leave the hotel, returning nine minutes later at 17.49, when he walks through the Hall Vendome.

Mr Carpenter said: "Dodi can be seen carrying a brochure in his right hand as he ascends the stairs."

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