Crash: A photographer is first to reach Diana's smashed up Mercedes in 1997. The public have never seen close-up images of her dyingA shocking paparazzi photograph of a dying Princess Diana is to be screened for the first time in a documentary about her fatal crash.
Unlawful Killing, which will be shown at Cannes this week, is backed by the actor Keith Allen and Mohammed Al Fayed, whose son Dodi died with Diana.
Icon: Diana's fame has meant that her death has been the subject of intense scrutiny. An inquest - held a decade later - found she was unlawfully killedThe 90-minute film will include a graphic black and white close-up of Diana taken moments after the Mercedes carrying the couple crashed in a Paris underpass.
The distressing image, Diana’s blonde hair and features clearly visible, has never been publicly seen in this country.
It will be shown around the world but not in the UK, prompting Allen to say: ‘Pity, because at a time when the sugar rush of the royal wedding has been sending republicans into a diabetic coma, it could act as a welcome antidote.’
Similar pictures shown to the Diana inquest jury had her face heavily pixelated.
Allen, in a piece for the Guardian newspaper last weekend, said: ‘My “inquest of the inquest” film contains footage of Diana recalling how the royals wanted her consigned to a mental institution, and the coroner repeatedly questioning the sanity of anyone who wondered if the crash was more than an accident.’
He said he asked every major UK broadcaster to commission a TV documentary about the inquest but they all refused.
Backers: The film, Unlawful Killing, is being supported by Mohammed Al Fayed, whose son Dodi died with Diana, and left-wing activist and actor Keith Allen, rightHe said the film was being premiered in Cannes ‘because British lawyers insisted on 87 cuts before any UK release.
'So rather than butcher the film, we’re showing in France, then the U.S., and everywhere except the UK.’
Getting ready: A screen is prepared on the beach for the 64th Cannes Film Festival in France, which is where the Diana documentary will be shown
Mourned: The gates of Kensington Palace adorned with tributes in 1997 source: dailymail
outrage: a feeling of anger and shock
