A mainstream British broadcaster was under fire on Monday for vowing to screen graphic images of the car crash that killed Diana, princess of Wales.
Channel 4 television is to show photographs that include Diana receiving oxygen from a doctor and a passing student trying to help her bodyguard, Trevor Rees-Jones, who was seriously injured.
The August 31 1997 crash in a Paris underpass also killed Diana’s boyfriend, Dodi Fayed, and his chauffeur, Henri Paul.
The programme, Diana: The Witnesses in the Tunnel, also features interviews with photographers and people who saw the crash. It is to be screened on June 6.
Publishing or broadcasting such pictures in Britain for the first time is still a highly sensitive matter, though graphic images have been published abroad. Newspapers raised concerns that it would upset princes William and Harry, her children, as they prepare to mark the 10th anniversary of her death.
A spokesperson for Clarence House, the residence handling the princes’ affairs, said: ”They have made their position on this very clear. They want their mother to be allowed to rest in peace.”
When an Italian magazine printed such pictures of the crash last year, the princes said in a statement that ”publishing such material causes great hurt to us, our father, our mother’s family and all those who so loved and respected her”.
The Daily Mail newspaper’s front page read: ”Trampling on Diana’s grave.”
”The excuse for this prurient pornography of death is beneath contempt,” said its editorial. Channel 4 was plumbing ”new depths in the degradation of British television” and was ”beyond any appeal to decency”.
The Daily Express, the newspaper of choice for Diana die-hards, said on its front page: ”Diana: now TV ghouls cash in on her memory.”
Britain’s main opposition Conservatives are calling for the documentary to be cancelled, saying it is hard to see who would be served by it. A Channel 4 spokesperson said the broadcaster does not think the pictures are intrusive and the show is serving ”a genuine public interest”.
The long-delayed inquest into Diana’s death is expected to open in London later this year.
The 10th anniversary will be marked by a family memorial service on August 31 at the Guards’ Chapel in London, the regimental place of worship for British Army officers William and Harry.
They are also part-organising a giant pop concert at London’s new 90 000-seater Wembley Stadium on July 1, featuring some of Diana’s favourite acts. — Sapa-AFP