USNews.com: Inside Washington: Paul Bedard: : Did Dodi really pop the question to Di?

September 12, 2006

Did Dodi really pop the question to Di?

Nearly 10 years after Princess Diana died in a car crash in France, you might think Scotland Yard would be close to wrapping up its investigation into whether any foul play was involved. Yet the publication this week of a new exposé by Di's butler, Paul Burrell, has grabbed investigators' attention. Burrell's first book on Diana, A Royal Duty, dished plenty of dirt. Now the new book, The Way We Were, contains further info, reveals my colleague Richard J. Newman–like Burrell's insistence that a splashy ring given to Di by her playboy pal Dodi Al-Fayed was a friendship gesture, not an engagement pledge. Newman says that's relevant because some influential people, like Dodi's billionaire father Mohamed Al-Fayed, think Di may have been murdered to prevent her from marrying a Muslim. Last week, the book's publisher, Harper U.K., let Scotland Yard have an advance read of the book, to look for clues. And Burrell, who stands to make multimillions from The Way We Were, says he has held nothing back from Scotland Yard and will continue to help with the inquiry.

Posted at 12:00 AM by PaulBedard

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WHAT IS THIS?

Have you ever wondered what reporters do with all the stuff they collect but never write about? Well wonder no more. The bosses here pay me a good chunk of change and haven't ever choked on my Amex bill so it seems only proper to dump out my notebook every week. It won't be just news we didn't use. The blog will sometimes write about the process of getting stories-like why we choose Charlie Palmer's (quiet, spacious) for source lunches on Capitol Hill over Bistro Bis (crowded and noisy). Or why it's hard to get reporters at U.S. News to answer their phones on Fridays (it's our deadline, silly.) We'll even include pictures of our travels. Don't hesitate to applaud or criticize. We might just run your comments. Go ahead and email me at pbedard@usnews.com.

HISTORICAL STUFF

In Washington Whispers One Year Ago: Sen. Edward M. Kennedy can be one of the Senate's blustering best, but we found him in a candid moment last week when he sized up his speech this week at the AFL-CIO convention in Chicago. "You're gonna miss a great speech there," he said with a chuckle. "Same one I've given for 40 years. It's going to be breathtaking."

Five years ago: Vice President Dick Cheney knows how to keep reporters happy. Flying home on Air Force Two from an energy policy town hall meeting in Pittsburgh, his press corps asked stewards for beer. Breaking with practice, the jet was dry. Scribes whined to Cheney who found two bottles of vino, red and white, to give the pampered pressies.