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London store set to unveil Diana statue
LONDON -- A statue of Princess Diana and Dodi Fayed, who died together in a Paris car crash in 1997, will soon be displayed at Harrod's department store in central London, its owner, Mohamed al Fayed, said Wednesday.
The work commissioned by al Fayed shows the couple, who were on vacation together when they died, holding hands and gazing into each other's eyes beneath a soaring albatross -- a symbol of eternity and good fortune. Diana is wearing a dress with a plunging neckline, while Dodi's shirt is unbuttoned to reveal a bare chest.
The couple and their driver, Henri Paul, died Aug. 31, 1997, when their Mercedes crashed into a pillar in a Paris underpass. The only survivor, Diana's bodyguard Trevor Rees-Jones, was badly hurt. The new work's title, "Innocent Victims," reflects al Fayed's belief that his son and the princess were murdered, despite a French inquiry that blamed Paul. "It is a tribute to what might have been if the couple's car had not crashed on Aug. 31, 1997," said Bill Mitchell, a Fayed family friend who crafted the work at a foundry in east London. Press photographers were allowed to see it for the first time Wednesday. Al Fayed said the bronze statue would allow people to honor the couple's memory with "warmth and love." A British inquest into the accident was opened in January, but it adjourned to allow a police investigation led by former Metropolitan Police Commissioner John Stevens.
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![Innocent Victims - a bronze statue of Diana, Princess of Wales and Dodi Al Fayed, at the Bronze Age foundry, in east London, Wednesday Aug. 24, 2005. Commissioned by Dodi's father, Harrods' owner Mohamed Al Fayed, the sculpture by family friend Bill Mitchell is due to be erected in the famous Knighstbridge department store.[AP/Photo]](xin_40080225104513513615.jpg)
