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Handout photo by Jacques Langevin which was made available Thursday Oct. 11 2007, from evidence presented at the inquest being held in London, into the death of Diana, Princess of Wales showing Diana, left, sitting with Dodi Al Fayed in the back of a car, on the night that both of them died in a car crash in Paris on Aug. 31, 1997Jacques Langevin

She died 16 years ago in a car crash in a Paris tunnel, but conspiracy theories still abound as to who was behind the death of Diana, Princess of Wales.

On Monday night ,London's Metropolitan Police tried to put to rest at least one sensational theory – that Diana had been killed by a member of the British military.

The claim surfaced last summer after the contents of a letter from the mother-in-law of a former special forces soldier became public. The letter was addressed to the head of the SAS and it claimed that the ex-sniper, known only as "Soldier N," told his wife that Diana's car had crashed after a beam of light was shone into the face of the driver by SAS forces. Soldier N, who has since been convicted of possessing illegal weapons, also allegedly claimed the forces acted on orders from members of the Royal Family.

In a statement Monday, the Metropolitan Police Service, MPS, said it investigated the claims and found them baseless.

"Every reasonable line of inquiry was objectively pursued in order to fully evaluate any potential evidence," the police said. "The final conclusion is that whilst there is a possibility the alleged comments in relation to the SAS's involvement in the deaths may have been made, there is no credible evidence to support a theory that such claims had any basis in fact. Therefore, the MPS are satisfied there is no evidential basis upon which to open any criminal investigation or to refer the matter back to [the coroner's office]."

Mohamed al-Fayed, whose son Dodi also died in the 1997 crash, said he was "disappointed" by the outcome and he will continue his fight "to establish the truth that they were murdered," said his lawyer, Simon McKay.

"The case of Soldier N should have been rigorously investigated by the Royal Military Police," Mr. McKay said. "Mr. al-Fayed will continue his fight to establish the truth that they were murdered and is convinced he will succeed in doing so."

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