The Paris prosecutor's office, in its final report on Friday, said Harrods' department store heir Dodi cannot be reproached for having asked Paul to drive the car on the night of their fatal crash.

Investigating magistrates Herve Stephan and Marie-Christine Devidal put the blame for the accident on Paul, saying he was drunk, under the influence of anti-depressants and not in a state to drive.

His final report also dismissed all charges against photographers and an agency courier who had pursued Diana's car, and concluded that Paul, who died along with Princess Diana and Dodi in the August 31 crash, was mainly to be blamed.

Stephan, the French Judge leading the probe into Princess Diana's death, spent two years patiently hearing witnesses, checking rumours and studying expert reportsbefore finally issuing his findings.

Paparazzi, murder plots, faulty airbags, an elusive white fiat car, anti-depressant drugs - Stephan raked over all these elements and more in a meticulous effort to ensure that he found the right answers to the questions raised on the death of the most photographed woman in the world.

"He wanted to close all the doors," one lawyer in the case remarked, echoing the unanimous approval he enjoys in Paris as a fair, hard-working and conscientious Judge.

Plucked from near-obscurity to lead the probe, 45-year-old Stephan handled the case with all the rigour and discretion of a classic French civil servant. No statements for the press. No public hearings. No rush to judgment despite sustained pressure, especially from the media in Britain, to come to a conclusion.