Nicola Woolcock
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Channel 4’s decision to show graphic pictures of the aftermath of the car crash that killed Diana, Princess of Wales, is “in appalling taste and deeply upsetting for her sons”, a family friend said yesterday.
The broadcaster rejected calls from Conservative MPs – and those close to the victims – not to show footage of the accident.
Diana: The Witnesses in the Tunnel will be screened next week, reportedly giving one of the first public displays of images taken by French photographers in the immediate aftermath of the crash.
Channel 4 claims that the victims have been blacked out in the only picture showing the car’s occupants. However friends of the late Princess and the mother of Henri Paul, the chauffeur who also died in the accident, criticised the channel.
Rosa Monckton, whose daughter is the late Princess’s godchild, said: “She is not here to defend herself. She can’t be hurt by it, but her boys can. Above all else, Diana was a mother. They should completely remove any photo that they have of the immediate aftermath of the crash.”
Gisele Paul, M Paul’s mother, also opposed the broadcast, saying: “Enough is enough. My sympathy as a mother is with the young princes who I am sure would be very upset if this programme showed their mother dying.”
Hugo Swire, the Shadow Culture Secretary, said: “We would expect more from a public service broadcaster.”
But Channel 4 said that the documentary, made by its history department, contained pictures that had been “carefully and sensitively selected”.
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I caught a glimpse of some of the pictures taken at the scene of the tragedy. It was not on Channel 4, but it aired on a news program hosted by Geraldo Rivera in the US. Most disturbing was the photo taken of the inside of the vehicle which depicted a wide-eyed Henri Paul. The look on his face was a thing of nightmares. I hope that Geraldo Rivera and Channel 4 had the same goal in mind: showing the public how intrusive and tasteless some photojournalists can be.
Marcus O., Houston, TX
Im disgusted that these images will be used, its a poor attempt of covering a story at the expense of other peoples feelings for ratings. Possibly the only way "we the people" can protest our feelings towards this sort of tabloid rubbish is to not view this channel for a period of time to show our outrage .
Maybe this way we can have our say and it effects their ratings jobs etc.
Im british and Live in Australia but if i had access to that channel i would definately never switch it on again
Gillian Smithson-Clark, Willaston, South Australia
Channel 4 deserve commendation for with-standing the clamour of the ignorant which called for the suppression of the true facts surrounding the death of Princess Diana.
The French Justice System and many commentators have shown they have the itellect and judgement of a lynch mob.
Well done Channel 4 for telling and showing it as it was.
John Featherstone, Cheadle , Cheshire
No-one else noticed that these are the same pictures printed on the front page of the Sun last year? Where was the outrage then?
Dan Grey, Reading, UK
I cannot believe that a British TV channel is even considering showing pictures of the final moments of Princess Dianna or anyone else for that matter. The feelings of the princes have been totally ignored. The defence of 'in the public interest' is an insult to me as a member of the public. If these pictures are shown I hope that channel 4 is made to pay handsomely and also appologise to William and Harry.
Sandra Docker, Birmingham, England
Jen you said "it might be important that we know the truth". We know the truth, she died in a car crash, seeing images of it do not expand on that truth one little bit. What they do is enable a TV chanel to broadcast a programme with new content and sell advertising on the back of it. All commercial TV exists to sell advertising, nothing more, nothing less. Without thats how the remain in business.
So it's worse than bad taste its actualy using a her death to make more money from advertising since apart from the pitures it will, no doubt, have nothing more to add to our knowledge.
Steve, London, UK
Quite the most insensitive and unpleasant idea. How can this be in the public interest except as tasteless voyeurism.Channel 4 does NOT set a good example to the rest of the world
Haysom, Emsworth, hants .GREAT BRITAIN
To be honest I have little interest in the whole Diana affair, however I am disappointed at the depths C4 broadcasting standards have slipped as this appears another attempt to grab ratings with controversy. The broadcasting of these pictures is completely unecessary to re-tell the overtold story of her death, and shows little respect for her family.
On principle I will be writing a complaint to Ofcom as I feel this is in violation of Section 8 (Suffering & distress, 8.16-8.19) of the Broadcasting Code.
Kevin, Norwich, Norfolk
I think the royals still have an inflated idea of what they can get away with. I don't see anybody talking about exactly which pictures are bad or why. Are there pictures of the people in the cars? Pictures such as this would be edited no matter who was in them, wouldn't they?
But why are they being shown? Didn't we all have the royals shoved in our faces for a long time, not because they served much of a purpose but because they were celebrities? So what's the point of showing them?
Finally, isn't this just another controversy that all of you can chatter about in the papers, magazines, and on radio and television to keep people interested without your having to think very much or get anybody else to think very much? Is anybody really interested? I can't tell you all what is important, there are so many things, but in this case I don't have to be Einstein to tell you what isn't.
Christopher Hobe Morrison, Middletown, Orange County, NY, USA
the photos exist. anyone who wants to find them can. no one who is likely to be upset by them can say they weren't warned about this programme. we see people suffering and/or dying every day on the news. why is this different? people are upset by the fact that diana is dead. this cannot be undone any more than the photos can be untaken. it might be important that we know the truth, however. then again, not as important as knowing what is going on in iraq, darfur, etc. some people would rather remain in the dark. that is their choice. but it is not a choice they should be making for the rest of us. I'd be more concerned the programme is unlikely to reveal anything new or interesting. worse, though, the same is probably true of any inquest.
jem, london, uk
it is time to let this sad affair go in to the archives of history and leave it there,what can be achieved showing these pictures.Her boys need to lay to rest their mother surely the public could do the same.
Lynne Kerley, Mlavern/Worcestershire, UK
I was under the impression that these days we have more than a single TV channel around.. If you don't like what's on, change the damned channel! Can't say I'm eager to see the program, but I see nothing wrong with them airing it. If you're going to start censoring things just because it can upset people that are personally involved in it we'll end up with a very limited number of things to show on TV. Nobody's chucking the pictures in their face and no one is tieing them to their chairs infront of the TV without a remote to change the channel, so really they don't have to sit there and be upset by it.
Thor Sævareid, Colchester, UK
Dale from Edinburgh is nobody to even more people in any country. Diana was an inspiration to so many, Investigations by journalists seem to uncover far more than the majority of police enquiries. It is almost a nessecary evil. However, I trust channel 4 will be as sensitive as is appropriate when concidering the emotions of William and Harry. As for describing Diana as a nobody Dale - DON"T YOU DARE!
Shaun Fetzer, Stara Zagora, Bulgaria
Er, if Diana's 'boys' don't like it, they don't have to watch the show. We see so much real-life footage on TV on a regular basis, showing people dying or dead in horrific accidents or even being murdered before our very eyes.
I don't see why this situation should be treated any differently, just because the victim was famous and 'royal'.
Anne, London, England
I for one will not be watching this unnecessary programme about Diana and Dodi. As a mother myself I wonder how Harry and William feel? I throw the gauntlet down to Channel 4 - cancel this unwanted and unnecesary programme and throw the film away and at the same time make a public apology to Harry and William. A generous donation to one of Diana's favourite charities would not come amiss either.
J Rowe, Swansea, West Glamorgan
i'd ask sue from the uk if she's actually seen this program and had the chance to put her comments into a proper context instead of reacting to this media hysteria. Maybe we the people of the uk should remain calm, watch the program and form our own opinion of this program and the merits of broadcasting those photos of an apparrently dying diana. I personally would like to see this because there are unanswered questions surrounding this incident involving the princess and the fayeds. We do have a deposition by richard tomlinson, a former mi6 agent in which he says that there was a plot to kill milosovic that was identical to the incident in tunnel in france according to witnesses. However he's not going to be allowed to testify at the forthcoming inquiry due to "the official secrets act" which means that mi6 is above the law. there's also the question of why the ambulance took so long to reach the hospital.
simon , warrington, united kingdom
here it is alomost ten years after dianna's death and the world at large cannot let her rest in peace. what is wrong with us?
mm, lacey, the, "other"washington, USA
If it was your mother involved, how would you feel if pictures of the accident were shown on television?
Craig Payne, Bracknell, Berkshire
Who cares, who cares, who cares?
Enough.
It was 10 years ago, and her death only had impact to her family, the rest is a media propagation.
She was a nobody to more people in the country than is ever admitted.
Let it end.
Dale, Edinburgh,
Seeing Dickie Arbiter on Sky News reminded me of the bad old days of Mary Whitehouse, the self-appointed busybody. He was talking about "thrusting images in peoples' faces". What rot! No one has to watch this programme if they don't want to. What he means is " I don't want to watch this programme so you shouldn't either". Of course it would upset the royal princes, but again they can watch something else or go to a nightclub.
Stuart Goldman, London, UK
Apart from the extremely bad taste demonstrated by Channel 4, this is tacky and unnecessary - haven't we seen enough of this miserable episode? I for one will NOT watch. This tendency to voyeurism is dangerous and to be strongly condemned.
Sue Shaw, Morpeth, UK