We all love a good conspiracy theory. Most of them, however, turn out to be pure nonsense, nothing more than a rumour in circulation, or a theory given a big boost by the media or by someone constantly banging on about it. The obvious contender for the most prolific spreader of a dodgy story is Mohammed Al-Fayed and his theory about the death of his son and Princess Diana.

Hopefully, his constant and vocal re-telling of his version of how his beloved son and Princess Diana died will end with the inquest jury’s verdict, but I very much doubt it. Urban myths and conspiracies are as old as history. Some of the more notorious examples include the “faked” American landing on the Moon, the ridiculous claim that 9/11 was a US (or Israeli) government conspiracy, the endless theories surrounding the assassination of JFK, the claim that Paul McCartney died in 1966 has was replaced by an impersonator and of course the arrival of aliens in Roswell, New Mexico.

The problem with many of these myths and conspiracies is that they do very occasionally turn out to be true, or at least an element of them turns out to be true. John F. Kennedy had literally hundreds of lovers, one of whom was alleged to be Marilyn Monroe. This turned out to be absolutely true and this led many to believe, not unreasonably, that some of the conspiracies about his assassination were also true.

Like the Coroner, I am absolutely convinced that neither Prince Phillip, the Police, MI5 or MI6, or any other government agency, were in any way responsible for the tragic deaths of Diana and Dodi Al-Fayed. In order to satisfy Mohammed Al Fayed’s desire for vengeance (egged on by the media), the inquest has cost the taxpayer £10 million and that doesn’t include the cost of previous inquiries.

The inquest has heard from more than 250 witnesses. Before this inquest there had been a number of major inquiries, the largest, led by Former Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir John Stevens, concluded shortly before the inquest began. The Coroner’s inquiry has left few people in doubt about what he thinks about the claims. Speaking at the start of this week, he directed the jury to dismiss the conspiracy theories of Price Phillip ordering the Princess’ murder or that MI6 orchestrated the car crash. It is now for the jury to decide the final verdict. Having listened to the endless innuendo and accusations for over a decade, I’m sick of this bandwagon rolling on and on.

My view is quite conventional; their driver had a few drinks, he was driving too quickly through a Paris tunnel to escape the paparazzi (who the judge denounced as liars too) which was followed by an inevitable crash. We can all recall when and where we heard the tragic news. It is time to let Princess Diana, who had a number of connections with Walsall charities to rest in peace. This is most of all important for her beloved sons for whom it must be agonising to have even the most personal details of her life endlessly raked over, but it is also important for all the people everywhere who admired her. Mr Al-Fayed has promised to accept the verdict. I’ll believe it when it happens.