Former airforce captain Henri Paul has long been regarded as the person to blame for the dramatic high-speed crash which killed Diana, Princess of Wales.

The 41-year-old former air force captain was named in an official report into the crash in 1999.

It stated he had been drunk at the time and was taking anti-depressants incompatible with alcohol.

Unable to defend himself, Paul's parents have spoken out publicly for the first time on Friday, denying their son was to blame and disputing his alcohol dependence.

Revelled in role

The high-class chauffeur was born in July 1956 in Lorient, Brittany, in northern France.

He had a love of flying and all things military from an early age and joined the French air force, rising to the rank of captain.

An amateur flier, Paul left the air force in 1985 and at the time of the crash, in August 1997, he was employed as assistant to the director of security at the Ritz in Paris.

He was said to revel in his role, which put him in charge of 20 staff.

And it was claimed Paul loved the nature of his job which allowed him to run shoulders with celebrities.

They said he drank quite a lot, but if he had why would he have been allowed to carry on driving - especially someone like the Princess?

Former Lorient resident

A colleague described Mr Paul as a macho man and said he was "over-excited" at being asked to drive the princess again.

He had already picked her and Dodi Fayed up from Le Bourget airport outside Paris earlier on 31 August, before taking Princess Diana out on a shopping trip.

Paul's death and his character were subject to a range of theories after the crash.

Wrong blood?

He was said to have been in the early stages of chronic alcoholism, for which he was receiving treatment.

It was alleged he had also taken anti-depressants and tranquillisers before getting behind the wheel of the Mercedes.

But there were also claims that the doctors conducting the autopsy on his body tested the wrong blood, or that the blood had been switched.

A television documentary maintained Paul's blood contained an implausibly high level of carbon monoxide.

'Full story'

In France, many of those living in his home town do not believe Paul should carry the blame for the crash.

One former Lorient resident, now living in Bedfordshire, told BBC News Online: "We do not really know the full story of what happened.

"They said he drank quite a lot, but if he had why would he have been allowed to carry on driving - especially someone like the princess?"

She said people in Lorient believe there is "more to the case" than has been revealed.

"Everyone there seems to think it was an accident," she said.