A DUNFERMLINE author has written a new novel based on a theory that Princess Diana may have been killed because of her claim to the throne.

Jacqueline Dempster, a former solicitor and employment law consultant, published her second novel, The Thirteenth Pillar of Artemis, recently, which explores the idea that her death may have been connected to her Jacobite lineage and possible claim to both the Scottish and English thrones.

Ms Dempster said: “As with many people, the circumstances of Diana’s death have always intrigued me. If nothing else, they raise many questions, particularly perhaps if you are a lawyer like me.

“Of course, many spurious theories have been advanced over the years about Diana’s death but this one struck me as having the possibility of some truth to it.”

The novel takes place 17 years after Diana’s death when journalist Hal Bradbury is tasked with exposing the secret to the world.

Disillusioned and still grieving the death of his wife, he leaps at an invitation to take a sabbatical on a remote Greek island to write the biography of Tasia Artemis, a mysterious and mystical recluse endowed with supernatural powers.

Ms Dempster added: “It’s impossible to comment on the veracity or otherwise of the theory that Diana may have had a claim to the throne but for a novelist, it provided fertile breeding ground for a story that leads us into a mystery of Da Vinci Code proportions once traced back to its roots in Rennes-Le Chateau."

The Thirteenth Pillar of Artemis by Jacqueline Dempster is available now from Amazon at £11.50 (paperback) or on Amazon Kindle at £3.88.