Last Photo of Princess Diana

Media Outrage: Much Ado About Nothing

R A D O K  N E W S
Posted: Friday, July 14, 2006
Updated: July 17, 2006 6:02am EST

Although profoundly popular in life, Princess Diana's untimely death in 1997 continues to fuel controversy.  Today, many in the mainstream media and tabloids - particularly in Europe - are doing their best to sensationalize the Italian Chi Magazine cover story. The truth behind the "Final Photo of Princess Diana" is far less ominous.

For example, many of the London tabloids are showing a CHI magazine teaser image with a blocked out view of Princess Diana.

The London Sun goes even further with its caption: "Sickening... The Sun has concealed Diana in this harrowing photo published on the cover of an Italian magazine."

With extensive, up-to-the-minute coverage of news and events around the globe, there are very few days that go by where there isn't extensive media coverage of death and destruction, including everything from photos of children killed by starvation and devastating tsunamis - to celebrities and politicians such as President John F. Kennedy, Marilyn Monroe, and Elvis.  Clips of the Zapruder film showing the killing of JFK have been seen by millions of people around the world.

In this case, Princess Diana was very much alive and looking surprisingly good at the time the photo was taken.

In the leading Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, the actual cover photo (right) is clearly less harrowing than what many in the media are depicting.  The cover photo shows an emergency technician providing her an oxygen mask.

Princess Diana was responsive at the crash scene with no apparent facial injuries, then rushed to Paris' Hospital La Pitie Salpetriere where she later died when she succumbed to cardiac arrest four hours later.

For many, a much more disturbing photo has been released to the public for almost a decade - the crash scene. The Mercedes that Princess Diana, Dodi Fayed, John Arthur Stevens, and driver Henri Paul were all riding in when it hit the pillar inside the tunnel at the Point d'Alma in Paris, is shown below.

The decision to publish the "last photo" of Lady Di, Princess of Wales, in Chi magazine has been defended by its editor.  Its publication in Italian weekly magazine Chi has provoked anger but editor Umberto Brindani said it was "touching" and "tender," not offensive.

Chi magazine's Brindani added "There is nothing voyeuristic or disrespectful in all this. It is just an attempt to get closer to the truth of a drama that is still wrapped in too much mystery and too many lies."

» Return to TabloidColumn.com

The Apprentice Girls...