Channel 4 have rejected Britain’s Princes William and Harry’s pleas not to broadcast pictures of their mother’s death.
Kevin Lygo, director of content at the British TV network, claims pulling the harrowing image of Diana dying at the scene of the Paris car crash on August 31, 1997, from tonight’s (06.06.07) ‘Diana: The Witness In The Tunnel’ documentary would set a ‘dangerous precedent’.
He said: ‘It would gave a serious impact on the legitimate coverage of high-profile tragedies where there is a responsible use of archive stills or footage.’ Channel 4 boss Julian Bellamy added Diana’s face would be obscured in the image showing a French paramedic giving her oxygen.
The prince’s private secretary Jamie Lowther-Pinkerton - who initially wrote to Channel 4 on William and Harry’s behalf to ask them not to screen the images - urged the channel to reconsider their decision.
He said: ‘We’re not objecting to the documentary, just the photos. There’s no need to distress these two young men in a way that these pictures will.’ Lowther-Pinkerton also wrote to Channel 4 executive Hamish Mykura, who commissioned the controversial programme, saying the princes believed screening the pictures was a ‘gross disrespect’ to their mother’s memory.
He asked: ‘If it were your or my mother dying in that tunnel, would we want the scene broadcast to the nation?’ Mykura, who revealed his own father had died in a car crash in 1988, said he did not intend to upset the princes.
He said: ‘I am in no doubt about the pain that can cause. But I do feel that if the subject had been reported in the press like this, there are circumstances in which it would be correct for it to be broadcast, as long as it was handled in a measured and responsible way.
‘I am very sorry to hear that the princes are upset by the film. I certainly wouldn’t want to upset them and regret if they are.’
© bangshowbiz.biz
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