Channel 4 defends Diana crash film

My Account
Logout

Create an Evening Standard Account

Use your social network

Save time by using your existing account to sign in to Evening Standard

We'll never share your information or post anything to your account without your permission

Welcome! Sign in here

Use your social network

Save time by using your existing account to sign in to Evening Standard

We'll never share your information or post anything to your account without your permission

Forgot your password ?

Registration

* indicates fields that are mandatory

Email *

Password *

Confirm Password *

First name *

Surname *

Postcode *

Country *

Mobile phone number

Username *

Gender *

Year of birth *

When you sign up...

You will have access to all our online competitions, discounted offers and can post comments on our site.

You will also receive The Weekender newsletter sent every Thursday - it’s full of fantastic offers and ideas for the weekend. You can update your email preferences in your account page when you log in.

Other newsletters and emails

Homes & Property Newsletter - Yes I want to receive the weekly email with all the latest news on property in the capital

Occasionally we would also like to send you relevant emails detailing specific offers either from ourselves or carefully selected partners. If you would prefer not to receive these then please tick the appropriate boxes below. We will never pass on your details.

I do not want to receive additional offers and information from the Evening Standard

I do not want to receive additional offers and information sent by Evening Standard on behalf of carefully selected partners

Terms and Conditions

* I have read, understood and agree to be bound by the terms and conditions of Evening Standard

Registration

Mail Sent for Registration Confirmation.

A confirmation email has been sent. Please activate your account by clicking on the activation link sent in your mail box.

The Conservative Party called for the broadcaster to cancel Diana: The Witnesses in the Tunnel after newspaper reports said it included the first public airing of images taken by French photographers immediately after the Paris collision in 1997.

The film, to be broadcast on June 6, shows one picture of Diana receiving oxygen from a French doctor and other explicit images of the interior of her car, the Observer reported.

But Channel 4 on Monday said it had "carefully and sensitively selected" which pictures to use and that in the only picture showing the car's occupants the victims had been blacked out.

It said the controversial image had previously been seen in the British press and that reports about what the film showed were "misleading and inaccurate".

A spokesman for the broadcaster said: "These photographs are an important and accurate eye-witness record of how events unfolded after the crash.

"We acknowledge there is great public sensitivity surrounding pictures of the victims and these have not been included.

"Some photographs will be of the scene inside the tunnel but in none of the pictures is it possible to identify Diana or indeed any of the crash victims.

"Only one image 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."

Channel 4 said the film had been made by its experienced history department and that there was "genuine public interest" in how the events leading to Diana's death had unfolded. The spokesman added: "We are confident that once people have seen this film, they will agree it is a well made and responsible documentary."