The driver at the wheel was drunk and was speeding. Perhaps he got reckless in trying to avoid a group of paparazzi in pursuit but all evidence is that the man and the vehicle he was handling were out of control. The celebrity passengers were not wearing seat belts. Negotiation of a confined Paris underpass was unsuccessful and three people in the vehicle died.

British princess Diana and her friend, Dodi Fayed, were two of the victims. Driver Henri Paul was the third. Only Diana’s bodyguard, Trevor Rees-Jones, survived.

It was the perfect formula for disaster and that is what resulted. In this 1997 case, a number of fools met and disaster resulted.

There has been one attempt after another to create some kind of subterranean plot to indicate the accident was a planned event orchestrated by Brits, including members of the royal family, to dispose of the popular but “inconvenient” Diana. The latest formal inquest, which ended Monday, concludes that Diana and Dodi were victims of reckless speed and a drunken driver in a chase. That is it. There is no evidence of any premeditated plot.

Fayed’s father Mohamed al Fayed has insisted for years that the two were murdered. Six months of testimony from reliable sources in the latest probe do not substantiate anything like that. Bottom line, this was a classic case of death from alcohol abuse and poor driving under hazardous conditions.

Al Fayed, who owns the famed Harrod’s department store, now says that although he still believes there was a murder plot, he will let the issue rest, mostly for the sake of Diana’s two sons in England.

It’s over, or should be. There always will be doubters who are inclined to go along with the father’s claim of a murder plot. But so far, in probe after probe by competent people, there is no evidence that was the case.

It is reasonable and sensible to investigate matters, such as this, thoroughly, but there is a point of no return. This Fayed-fostered soap opera has reached that point.