Posted on 04/21/2004 6:47:42 PM PDT by Leroy S. Mort
Friends of Princess Diana last night expressed disbelief after a picture of her dying in the wreck of her Mercedes was broadcast on TV, the UK DAILY MAIL splashes on Thursday.
MORE
The American network CBS showed the black and white image, taken by paparazzi moments after the car crashed in Paris.
On air for ten seconds, it clearly showed Diana's face, shoulders and upper torso as she lay dying.
Friends were distraught at the decision to show the picture, which they said would horrify Princes William and Harry. 'I am appalled, it is just beyond the pale,' said Vivienne Parry, a former trustee of the Diana Memorial Fund. 'This is something that should be absolutely private and there is no defence for deciding to show it.
'It is such a gross invasion of privacy. Here is a woman who is dying and you can do nothing about it - yet they replay that moment all over again.'
American fashion designer Lana Marks said the picture was 'the ultimate betrayal'.
She added: 'I can't believe they would do this. I am so shocked and hurt that they would air a picture of the princess's last minutes alive.
'I can't think of a more serious invasion of her privacy or anything that could be more terribly distressing for William and Harry.
'Their wellbeing was paramount to her and she would be devastated to think of what it will do to them to have a picture of their dying mother on television.'
The CBS programme, 48 Hours Investigates, showed the picture last night as part of a report entitled Diana's Secrets. It was accompanied by a voiceover from French doctor Frederick Maillez, who arrived at the crash scene at the Pont d'Alma tunnel and gave emergency first aid to the princess. He told viewers Diana's face was not injured and 'she still looked beauti ful' as he desperately tried to save her life.
CBS said the picture was one of several seized from French photographers which formed part of the official investigation into the crash in August 1997 in which Dodi Fayed and chauffeur Henri Paul also died.
'It is on air for about ten seconds,' said CBS spokesman Marcy Erhard. 'It is not gory in any way, shape or form. It is not graphic.'
Much of the hour-long programme was devoted to the 6,000-page French police report into the crash.
The Daily Mail revealed the report's details in January and they were also reported in a Channel 4 documentary the following month.
The princess's former bodyguard Ken Wharfe, who also appears on the programme, said he had no idea such a picture would be used.
'There are other ways of establishing the cause of Diana's death than showing pictures that even the paparazzi would not publish,' he added.
'I would have thought CBS would have done better than this. I was interviewed, but of course they didn't tell me they were planning to use this picture.'
Clarence House declined to comment on the broadcast last night.
A spokesman for Dodi's father Mohamed Al Fayed said the use of the image was distressing and dis-tasteful.
'All we know of is the stills which appeared in newspaper offices that night in Britain, which were not published by the editors,' he added. 'We have always believed that was the correct decision.'
Miss Parry said the picture should have remained unpublished as part of the investigation.
'The police see all sorts of such pictures, but they would never dream of imposing them on the families involved,' she added.
Miss Marks, a Florida-based fashion designer, accused American TV networks of 'oneupmanship' in their broadcasts about her friend.
She pointed to NBC's decision to broadcast earlier this year audiotapes of Diana talking about her marriage break-up.
'They are competing with each other to put out images which are more and more shocking,' she said.
'I thought it would be the European paparazzi out to make millions of dollars by selling a picture.
'I never expected it would be the media in my country that would do such a thing.'
Not exactly reassuring to note her beauty, when the doc should have been monitoring, oh, vitals (instead of the status of her lip gloss). Btw, I remember criticisms of the (French) method of triage--ie, trying to do too much at the scene, instead of transporting to a truama center. Med evacs helicopters are not commonplace as here.
Don't forget Bob Woodward. He heard someone say Bush could have prevented it ...
Actually, Woodward interviewed her in the car for 3 hours while she was dying.
Each time I think See BS can't get any lower, they do! The Princess was respected by Americans too! Let her rest in peace.
Of course, you meant "ANOTHER new low for a major network," right?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
