14 DAY TRIAL // A new documentary awaiting release at the upcoming Cannes Film Festival has already caused quite a stir in the UK because it will include – and show for the first time onscreen – a paparazzi photo taken as Princess Diana was dying in the 1997 crash in Paris.
The photo is available online – and has been so ever since the tragic event that shocked the world – but its inclusion in the documentary means it will be the first time it’s ever shown onscreen and, most importantly, to the British public, the Daily Mail points out.
Called “Unlawful Killing,” the documentary is a film by Keith Allen (father of singer Lily Allen), backed by Mohammed Fayed, whose son Dodi was in the car with Diana at the time and perished in the crash with her.
The photo shows Princess Diana in the wreckage as she was dying, and was taken by the paparazzi chasing her moments after the accident occurred. It’s already been printed in the tabloids.
While the Royal Family is not addressing the latest controversy in any way, friends of Diana’s are speaking out against the idea of the film, saying it’s shameless to exploit her death like that for profit.
“If this is true this is absolutely disgusting. The fact people are trying to make money – which is all that they are doing now – out of her death is quite frankly ... words fail me,” Rosa Monckton tells the Mail.
Allen is fending off such accusations by saying the documentary doesn’t actually show never before seen images that might be too shocking for the audiences: it’s just using a photo that’s already been out for years to prove a point.
Namely, that Diana was murdered by those closest to her – a point also made on the official webpage for the film.
“It reveals a cover-up by the British Establishment culminating in a six-month inquest,” reads a note on the page, as per the same Mail.
“Keith Allen’s ground-breaking documentary recreates key moments from the inquest and demonstrates how vital evidence of foul play was hidden from public scrutiny, how the royal family were exempted from giving evidence and how journalists, particularly those working for the BBC, systematically misreported the events and in particular, the verdict itself,” it is further said.
As such, “Unlawful Killing” is “the story of how the world was deceived.” The documentary will premiere at Cannes, and go to the US and the rest of the world afterwards. If need be, it will not be released in the UK at all.