M says MI6 did not kill Diana, Princess of Wales

The former head of MI6 admitted today that the Secret Intelligence Service can be granted the power to kill, but denied that Diana, Princess of Wales had been executed by MI6 officers.

Sir Richard Dearlove had been summoned to appear at the inquest of Diana, being held in London.

Dearlove said that SIS officers are able to use "lethal force" but only with authorisation from the Foreign Secretary.

Dearlove added that no authorisation was given to bug, assassinate or break the law in any way in respect of Diana and he expressed his anger at claims made by Mohammed al Fayed.

Sir Richard worked for the SIS in various roles, both at home and abroad, between 1966 until his retirement in 2004 as its chief.

Photographers were waiting to get a picture of M entering or leaving the courts at all the known entrances and exits. However, as befits a former SIS officer, none of them managed to get a single picture of him.

After it emerged that that ten members of SIS have been summoned to give evidence to the inquest which has been dragging on for months, senior peers and MPs called on the coroner, Lord Justice Scott Baker, to reconsider his decision and bring a speedy end to the "circus".

Lord Foulkes said: “I think the coroner should now seriously consider stopping the inquest.”

Denis MacShane, a former Foreign Office minister, said: “This is not only a farce, it is a contemptible abuse of British law and a scandalous waste of public money.”

The lawyers are racking up millions in fees for their contributions in court but twelve members of the public have been ordered to sit through it all in the jury for a pittance.

Note: MI6 is now officially called the Secret Intelligence Service. The first head of MI6, Mansfield Smith-Cumming, used his initial C to indicate when he had read a paper, a practice that is believed to continue. Ian Fleming, the author of the James Bond novels chose another of Smith-Cumming's initials for the name of his fictional head of MI6.