The startling revelation was made on Tuesday when a note containing Diana’s statement was read out at the inquest into the death of the Princess of Wales who was killed alongside her boyfriend Dodi al-Fayed in a car crash in Paris ten years ago, the Daily Mail reported here on Wednesday.

The statement was recorded by the Princess’ solicitor Lord Mishcon who died aged 90 last year after a long illness. He wrote that “HRH” told him “the Queen would be abdicating in April and the Prince of Wales would then assume the throne”. In the note, Lord Mishcon said that Diana “was convinced that there was a conspiracy that she and Camilla would be put aside” and nanny Tiggy Legge-Bourke, who at that time underwent an abortion, would tie the knot with Charles.

“Reliable sources” had informed Diana about the plan, according to the statement. The Princess of Wales also told her solicitor that “the ideal solution would be for Charles to abdicate and allow Prince William to become King”.

The revelation on the first day of the inquest came as Coroner Lord Justice Scott Baker told the jurors that Princess Diana was not pregnant with Dodi’s child when she died in 1997, demolishing the conspiracy theory from Mohamed Al-Fayed.

The Harrods owner insists that both Diana and Dodi were murdered in a plot by British secret service on the orders of Prince Philip because the Princess of Wales was expecting his son’s baby. “I’m certain of what happened. I know they been murdered,” al-Fayed said at the inquest.

In addition to the Coroner’s remarks about Diana’s alleged pregnancy, al-Fayed also made clear he objected to Lord Baker’s comments on the speed of the deathcrash Mercedes and comments its chauffeur Henri Paul is said to have made to photographers at the Ritz Hotel in Paris.

The inquest will examine the embalming of Diana’s body, post-mortem, suggestions she was engaged to Fayed, the alleged purchase of a ring, claims she was pregnant and bodyguards’ evidence.