Diana's dying pictures outrage UK

HORROR RECALL: Princess Diana lie unconscious, dying within the wreckage of the car.

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London: After almost a decade, the death of Britain's princess Diana remains a source of great sadness and speculation. No surprise that plans to broadcast a documentary that includes unseen images of her dying moments has become a cause of outrage in UK.

Just minutes after leaving the Ritz hotel in Paris on August 31, 1997, princess Diana lie unconscious, dying within the wreckage of the car. For almost ten years the British media has adhered to an unwritten code not to publish or broadcast photographs of the princess taken after the accident. But now one British TV network is breaking ranks and it's caused quite a stir.

“It is a particularly sick gimmick. They're only interested in extraordinary amounts of publicity. And that they have already got,” said Royal Commentator Richard Fitzwilliams.

The channel 4 documentary, Diana: The witnesses in the tunnel, includes an image of a doctor attempting to treat the princess at the scene - an image CNN does not have the rights to broadcast.

The producers have obscured her face and body. That's still offensive, says the opposition conservative party.

"I think if they decided to black out Diana's face because they recognize the photographs are sensitive then they shouldn't show the photographs at all. I don't think they can their cake and eat it,” Ed Vaizey, Shadow Broadcast Minister said.

Channel 4's executives insist that the use of the photograph is sensitive and necessary. “There was a very conscious decision on our part taken when we set out on this project that we wouldn't be showing any images of the occupants of the car," said Head of Channel 4 History, Science and Religion Hamish Mykura.

A similar image has already been shown by another US network and an Italian magazine. The British public will form its own judgment when the program is aired next week. Almost a decade since the nation first grieved for Diana, this outrage shows her death can still provoke powerful emotions.

In a statement, Diana's sons William and Harry said they want their mother to be allowed to rest in peace. But in the count down to the anniversary of her death, this documentary is unlikely to be the only re-examination of that night in Paris ten-years ago.