Channel 4 faces flak over airing image of Dianas dying

British television station Channel 4 has invited harsh criticism from the public by rejecting Princes William and Harrys appeals to desist from broadcasting a photograph that shows their mother Princess Diana dying.

London, May 28 : British television station 'Channel 4' has invited harsh criticism from the public by rejecting Princes William and Harry's appeals to desist from broadcasting a photograph that shows their mother Princess Diana dying.

According to reports, both William and Harry are shocked by the channel's decision to go ahead with the telecast of the picture, depicting Diana slumped in the back of a black Mercedes a few minutes after it crashed in a Paris underpass in 1997.

The photograph also shows a French doctor trying to fit an oxygen mast to Diana's face, and a passing student helping her bodyguard, lying seriously injured in front of the car.

A Clarence House spokesman has said that the young princes want that the other media organisations should not reproduce the picture.

"They have made their position on this very clear. They want their mother to be allowed to rest in peace," the Daily Mail quoted the spokesman as saying.

"They regard this picture as utterly distasteful. It is tantamount to trampling on her grave, and they are deeply saddened by any decision to show it," added the royal source.

'Channel 4' will telecast the photograph on June 6 in a documentary 'Diana: The Witnesses in the Tunnel', which is about the Princess of Wales' death. The programme is part of the lead-up to the ten-year anniversary of Princess Diana's death.

The channel heads have decided to blank out the face of the dying princess, and the other occupants of the car during the broadcast.

The documentary features the accounts of photographers and other witnesses to the accident, which also claimed the lives of Dodi Fayed and his chauffeur, Henri Paul.

A spokesman for the channel has said that the selection of photographs used in the documentary, including the one showing Diana dying, had been done very "carefully and sensitively".

"It has been said that in the aftermath of the crash photographers were swarming over the car, hindering people from getting to the occupants and giving them help," he said. "The photograph illustrates and makes clear that this was not the case. It is the only image in the documentary that shows the occupants of the car after the crash and it has been appropriately obscured to avoid any unwarranted intrusion into their privacy or that of their families," he added.

However, many people are of the opinion that an important and accurate eyewitness record of how the events unfolded after Diana's death could have been made without actually displaying the photo also.

Ofcom, the independent regulator and competition authority in the UK, said that it had no powers to stop the documentary being aired. However, a spokesman added that an investigation would take place if viewers complained that it was "offensive".

"It is up to the broadcaster to make the decision on whether to go ahead with a programme. Ofcom will launch an investigation only if there are complaints from viewers who found it offensive," he said.

ANI