As the investigation continues into the car crash which killed Princess Diana, her friend Dodi Fayed and their driver, Henri Paul, the French prosecutor's office confirmed yesterday that traces of two anti-depressants were found in Mr Paul's blood sample, both of which may be used to treat chronic alcoholism.
Meanwhile details of Princess Diana's final waking minutes emerged. "Leave me alone! Leave me alone!" were her last words before slipping into a coma, according to the French daily Le Parisien, citing an unidentified member of the medical team dispatched to the scene.
"She very agitated, half unconscious," he said.
Also last night there was confirmation from a lawyer acting for the al-Fayed family in Paris that photographs have emerged showing Mr Paul clearly "dazzled" by the flash of a camera close to the car.
Earlier this week a third blood test revealed that he was three times over the legal alcohol limit when he was driving the princess and Dodi Fayed from the Ritz hotel, but the statement from the French prosecutor's office confirmed that the test also revealed traces of two anti-depressant drugs: fluoxetine and triapride. Triapride can be used to treat pain or aggression and the larger, "therapeutic dose" of fluoxetine is a key ingredient in the anti-depressant, prozac.
However, with the Ritz hotel facing possible legal action for allegedly allowing a drunk and unqualified employee to drive the car in which the princess was killed, a spokesman for the al-Fayed family said it would be seeking "professional advice" on the results of Mr Paul's blood test.
Earlier, the existence of the photographs was verified last night by Mr Bernard Dartevelle, a lawyer for the al-Fayed family in Paris, who said two frames from a paparazzo's roll of film which was seized by the French police after the crash showed Mr Paul "dazzled by a flash". The princess could be seen turning in her seat to look behind her at the yellow headlight of a motorcycle, while the princess's bodyguard, Mr Trevor Rees-Jones, who was the only person to survive the crash, could be seen lowering the visor in the front.
The film is being held by French police and has not been released, but although Mr Dartevelle said he had access to the photographs he has refused to reveal the identity of the photographer. However, a defence lawyer in the case, who has declined to be identified, also confirmed the existence of the photographs.
Mr Dartevelle insisted last night there were no "objective means" of establishing the speed of the car immediately before the crash and he said he believed a second car and a motorcycle had tried to slow down the princess's car in order to take photographs.
"Obviously Mr Paul should not have been at the wheel," Mr Dartevelle later told France 3 television.
"But he was probably the only one to be aware of his real condition."
Meanwhile, a Sardinian tourist in London was fined £100 yesterday for the theft of a teddy bear that was placed among the flowers outside St James's Palace as a tribute to the princess. As he left Bow Street Magistrates' Court, Fabio Piras was punched by a bystander.
Britain will give the VAT on sales of Candle in the Wind, Elton John's reworked tribute to Princess Diana, to her memorial fund, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Mr Gordon Brown, tells The Times today.
Yesterday, the princess's sons, Prince William and Prince Harry, returned to school for the first time since the accident.
The British Prime Minister, Mr Blair, yesterday denied that he had been embroiled in reported rows between the Spencer family and Buckingham over last week's funeral arrangements.