In his many years as a judge, Lord Justice Scott Baker has played numerous distinguished roles. He served on the ground-breaking Warnock committee on the ethics of embryo science, and famously jailed a former cabinet minister, Jonathan Aitken. But his long career will now be remembered for his nominally lowly - and temporary - role as west London's deputy coroner.
This is the position he will hold for the duration of the inquest into the deaths of Diana, Princess of Wales and Dodi Fayed, which started in earnest last week at the High Court. The deputy coroner launched it with a brio that had been kept under wraps during his many years on the bench: debunking theories, revealing secrets and releasing film that has been