Today would have been Princess Diana’s 64th birthday before her life was tragically cut short on that fateful night in August 1997. In the 27 years since the fatal car crash in Paris, media interest has not faded.
Nowhere more so was this the case than in 2007 as the 10th anniversary of the tragedy approached.
Controversial Documentary Plans
At the time, a Channel 4 documentary announced controversial plans to show graphic images moments after the crash. These included a particularly distressing image of the Princess still inside the car with her face blurred out.
Unsurprisingly, the Royal Family were opposed to the pictures being broadcast.
The princes were concerned about the effect it might have on the young Prince Harry and Prince William – who were just 22 and 25 in 2007.
William’s Private Battle
Writing in her bombshell fly on the wall expose, ‘The Palace Papers’, royal author Tina Brown revealed new details about William’s efforts. The prince urged his private secretary to stop the images being broadcast.
Brown wrote that ‘William asked his private secretary Jamie Lowther-Pinkerton – without success – to do everything he could’ to stop the images being shown.
The private secretary even wrote to Channel 4 about the princes’ concerns.
Palace Letter to Channel 4
Lowther-Pinkerton’s letter expressed the princes‘ deep distress about the planned broadcast.
The letter stated that the images would cause ‘the princes acute distress if they are shown to a public audience, not just for themselves, but also on their mother’s behalf.’
He added they would intrude ‘upon the privacy and dignity of her last minutes’.
Channel 4’s Response
In response, the broadcaster said that it had ‘weighed up the concerns’ from the Palace. However, then-head of Channel 4, Julian Bellamy, stressed there was a ‘legitimate public interest’ in the documentary.
‘We would like to make clear that it was not our intention in commissioning this programme to cause them distress,’ Bellamy told The Guardian in 2007.
He insisted the channel did not believe ‘the film is in any way disrespectful to the memory of Princess Diana.
Concessions Made
In a concession, the channel did decide to air a programme to debate the issues surrounding the broadcast. Bellamy added that no images of the victims would be shown.
Channel 4 had made a ‘clear decision from the outset to uphold the consensus quite properly reached by the British media‘ not to use certain pictures.
Public Complaints
Despite this, Ofcom still received 62 complaints about the documentary. However, in September that year the media watchdog upheld Channel 4’s decision to air the documentary.
The investigation found that the images and themes were in line with viewers’ expectations of an investigative documentary.
They ruled ‘the photographs were integral to the credibility of the argument being made and the corroborated first-hand testimony’.
Doctor’s Lasting Guilt
Speaking in 2022, the doctor who desperately tried to save Diana said he will always feel responsible for her final moments. Frederic Mailliez found the royal unconscious and struggling to breathe on the floor of the mangled Mercedes.
The medic says he is still marked by what happened that night.
Final Moments Recalled
‘I realise my name will always be attached to this tragic night,’ Mailliez told The Associated Press. ‘I feel a little bit responsible for her last moments.’
Mailliez was driving into the tunnel when he spotted a smoking Mercedes nearly split in two.
He did not recognise the icon, despite acknowledging she was a ‘very beautiful woman’.
Crash Scene Description
‘I walked toward the wreckage. I opened the door, and I looked inside,’ he said. Describing the scene, he said: ‘Four people, two of them were apparently dead, no reaction, no breathing.’
‘And the two others, on the right side, were living but in severe condition.’
Emergency Treatment
‘The front passenger was screaming, he was breathing. He could wait a few minutes,’ Mailliez explained. ‘And the female passenger, the young lady, was on her knees on the floor of the Mercedes, she had her head down.’
‘She had difficulty to breathe. She needed quick assistance.’
Medical Response
Millez ran to his car to call emergency services and grab a respiratory bag. ‘She was unconscious,’ he said.
‘Thanks to my respiratory bag (…) she regained a little bit more energy, but she couldn’t say anything.’
Discovering Diana’s Identity
The doctor would later find out the news – along with the rest of the world – that the woman he treated was the beloved princess.
‘I know it’s surprising, but I didn’t recognise Princess Diana,’ he said.
I was in the car on the rear seat giving assistance.
Focus on Saving Life
‘I realised she was very beautiful, but my attention was so focused on what I had to do to save her life, I didn’t have time to think, who was this woman.’
‘Someone behind me told me the victims spoke English,
Image credit:
Diana, Princess of Wales, 1997 (2). Photo by John Mathew Smith & www.celebrity-photos.com, via Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.
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