Channel 4 Will Show Diana Crash Photos

[y2krog2000]

C4 rebuffs Diana photographs plea

Princess Diana

Prince William and Prince Harry's private secretary wrote to the channel saying they felt it would be a "gross disrespect" to their mother's memory.

Channel 4 said it decided to run the images in the documentary on Wednesday after considering the princes' concerns against wider public interest.

The pictures by French photographers are of the August 1997 crash in Paris.

Diana, 36, Dodi Al Fayed, 42, and driver Henri Paul were killed when their Mercedes crashed in the Pont de l'Alma tunnel in Paris as they drove away from paparazzi after leaving the Ritz Hotel.


The letter from the princes' private secretary, Jamie Lowther-Pinkerton, was sent to Hamish Mykura, head of history, science and religion at Channel 4, last Friday.

Mr Lowther-Pinkerton wrote: "If it were your or my mother dying in that tunnel, would we want the scene broadcast to the nation? Indeed, would the nation so want it?"

In particular, the letter asked Channel 4 to remove several images of the crashed car with Diana still inside and of a medic treating her.

"These photographs, regardless of the fact that they do not actually show the princess's features, are redolent with the atmosphere and tragedy of the closing moments of her life," Mr Lowther-Pinkerton added.


Others to criticise the channel include shadow culture secretary Hugo Swire, who wants the show cancelled.

Last week, a friend of Diana's, Rosa Monckton, and Katharine Witty, a representative for Mohamed Al Fayed, accused programme commissioners of using the death to try to boost ratings.

Head of Channel 4 Julian Bellamy said it had not intended to cause William and Harry distress and did not believe its decision was disrespectful to the memory of the princess.

He said the programme went no further visually or in tone than many previous British TV and newspaper reports.

"We have weighed the princes' concerns against the legitimate public interest we believe there is in the subject of this documentary and in the still photography it includes," he said.

He added that photos and interviews in Diana: The Witnesses In The Tunnel provided the "most detailed and credible eyewitness account yet delivered" of the crash.

Clarence House said William and Harry felt they had no choice but to make their feelings public.

The statement from the household said: "In publishing the letter, the princes reluctantly feel that they have been left no choice but to make it clear publicly that they believe the broadcast of these photographs to be wholly inappropriate, deeply distressing to them and to the relatives of the others who died that night, and a gross disrespect to their mother's memory."

BBC NEWS | UK | C4 rebuffs Diana photographs plea

Just goes to show that channel 4 will still show anything to get viewers tuned in and don't care about the feelings of Diana's kids and family.