A British television station has decided to defy the pleas of Diana's sons and will broadcast graphic images of the crash that claimed the life of "the people's princess."
Channel 4 said Tuesday it will air the photos in a documentary despite receiving a letter from Princes William and Harry requesting the station not broadcast the images.
The royal letter, released June 1, called the photos "a gross disrespect to their mother's memory.''
The station responded by stating the photos will be aired in the interests of the public.
"We have weighed the princes' concerns against the legitimate public interest we believe there is in the subject of this documentary and in the still photography it includes,'' said Julian Bellamy, head of Channel 4.
The Princess of Wales and her companion Dodi Fayed died along with their chauffeur when their Mercedes crashed in a Paris tunnel on Aug. 31, 1997.
To quell the growing controversy over the documentary, "Diana: The Witnesses in the Tunnel", the station has decided to air an additional program that will discuss some of the issues raised in airing the photos.
A statement issued by Clarence House, official residence of the princes and Prince Charles, said the decision to go public with the letter was a vain attempt to express, "the broadcast of these photographs to be wholly inappropriate, deeply distressing to them and to the relatives of the others who died that night, and a gross disrespect to their mother's memory."
Press secretary for the princes Jamie Lowther-Pinkerton said Channel 4 rejected a request from the prince's to see an advanced copy of the documentary.
Lowther-Pinkerton was provided with a copy and later briefed the princes on the content.
Channel 4 has denied it restricted access to the video.
The station maintains the film is a responsible documentary that focuses on the role of the photographers before and after the crash.
"We acknowledge that 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."
"We do not show, nor have we ever considered showing, Diana's final moments.''
However, some of the photos show Diana still inside the car while paramedics work on her.
"These photographs, regardless of the fact that they do not actually show the princess's features, are redolent with the atmosphere and tragedy of the closing moments of her life," Lowther-Pinkerton wrote.
The channel pointed out that some of the photos used in the documentary already aired in documentaries produced by the BBC, were published on the cover of the Sunday Times and were used in a recent documentary by Channel Five.
Channel 4's director of television sent a three-page letter to Clarence House in reply to the prince's request. It expressed regret over the princes' distress but maintained the channel would air the images.
With files from The Associated Press
