An Earlsfield man who describes himself as Princess Diana's number one fan got a special mention from the coroner at her inquest.

John Loughrey, from Steerforth Road, has become a permanent fixture at the Royal Courts of Justice on The Strand since the inquest began.

He gave up his job as a chef and rented his house so he could attend the inquest daily. He got up at 4.30am to secure his seat in the public gallery.

Lord Justice Scott Baker praised the self-confessed Diana "superfan" for attending the 89 day inquest.

"They were very kind words - very touching," Mr Loughrey told the Mail during the court break. "It made my eyes water.

Mr Loughrey was noticed by newspapers on both sides of the Atlantic because of his unusual face-paint.

Describing how he came to have the 3-inch letters spelling out Diana' across his forehead and Dodi' scrawled either side of his nose, Mr Loughrey said he woke up one morning with a clear vision.

He said: "I've always been a huge Diana fan, but I woke up one day last year, around the tenth anniversary of her death, and decided to paint her name on my forehead - it just felt right.

"So I knew what I had to do for her and that meant making sure I was here, at her inquest, every day."

"All I knew was that it had to be blue, because it's a good colour - a royal colour and I know she liked it."

On November 6, Mohamed Al Fayed asked him if he would write his son's name on his face too - and he obliged.

His sister paints on the two names every night, because she refuses to get up early enough to do it in the morning, and Mr Loughrey lies on his back all night so her efforts will not smudge.

Although he never met Diana, Mr Loughrey firmly believes they made a spiritual connection while he visited her floral tribute at Kensington Palace in 1997.

He said: "I had a moment of revelation when I was outside Kensington Palace gates and suddenly I felt four fingers rest on my left shoulder and brush down towards my elbow - I knew it was Diana."

Having listened to nearly 100 witnesses, Loughrey said he has reached his own verdict: "It was a tragic accident," he said.

The jury is expected to issue the official verdict early next month.