The lurid script of Harry and Meghan's pal

27/03/2021

Harry and Meghan’s production company boss owns the rights to a lurid Diana conspiracy movie which claims the princess was ‘murdered’ by the Royal Family

Ben Browning, who was last week named as head of Archewell Productions
He had previously purchased the script to ‘Inquest’ in 2013 after a bidding war
The plot focuses on conspiracy theories that emerged after Diana’s fatal crash

The Hollywood producer hired as the new boss of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s film production company owns the rights to a controversial movie which claims Princess Diana was ‘murdered’ by the Royal Family.

British-born Ben Browning, who was last week named as head of Archewell Productions and Archewell Audio, bought the script to ‘Inquest’ in 2013 following a fierce bidding war.

The thriller’s incendiary plot focuses on conspiracy theories that emerged after Diana’s fatal car crash in a Parisian underpass – including the outlandish claim that the Queen ordered her assassination because she was pregnant and planning to marry her Muslim lover, Dodi Al-Fayed.

Lady Diana, pictured here on the evening of her tragic death

While Browning bought it through his former company, Wayfare Entertainment, the film is still listed on his personal profile on IMDBPro, a database used by every major Hollywood studio.

It is standard practice for producers to list projects which are ongoing, or still being planned, a source told The Mail on Sunday. ‘Ben bought the script in 2013 but the status of the project is unclear,’ the source said. ‘It’s not unusual for a film to take years in development. What is interesting is that his IMDBPro page, something everyone in Hollywood uses as a resource for contact details or to see what projects someone has in development, has been updated to include his new job at Archewell. And it still mentions he is attached to Inquest as a producer.’

The plot revolves around a fictional London lawyer, Michael Davies, who is hired by former Harrods boss Mohamed Al-Fayed to probe the death of his son Dodi.

Ben Browning, who was last week named as head of Archewell Productions and Archewell Audio, bought the script to ‘Inquest’ in 2013 following a fierce bidding war

He and Diana had been enjoying a ‘summer fling’ before the 1997 crash which killed them and their drunk driver, Henri Paul.

The script suggests Al-Fayed believed they were murdered because they were engaged and the Queen ‘did not want a Muslim in the Royal Family’.

Davies’ investigation leads him to Diana’s former butler, Paul Burrell, who claims secret letters written by the Princess contained her fears that the Royal Family were conspiring to have her killed. The movie has been compared to Oliver Stone’s 1991 drama ‘JFK’ which delved into conspiracy theories surrounding President John F Kennedy’s assassination.

Noah Segal, who produced critically-acclaimed thriller The Nest last year, told The Mail on Sunday that Browning was ‘a good pick for Harry and Meghan’ and was known for his ‘honesty and integrity’.

Segal said: ‘He’s been with major movie stars and he’s not likely to be star-struck by Harry and Meghan. He’ll treat them like real people.’

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