Controversial Diana documentary screened at Galway Film Festival

A HIGHLY controversial documentary banned in Britain after claiming to reveal a widespread cover-up over the death of Princess Diana has been given its first public airing in Ireland.

Unlawful Killing was given its first public screening last night as part of the Galway Film Fleadh.

The £2.5 million (€2.8m) documentary — which was funded by Mohamed al-Fayed, who has repeatedly alleged Diana and his son Dodi were murdered in the fatal 1997 Paris car crash — claims to reveal evidence of a conspiracy around the princess’s death.

Although it was part of a private media showing at the Cannes Film Festival in France last month, for legal reasons it has not been screened in Britain.

Narrated by director Keith Allen, the film is a mix of archive footage, new interviews, graphics and reconstructions of scenes from the 2007 inquest in London.

Speaking at a press conference after the film’s screening at Cannes, Mr Allen said the producers only accepted funding from Mr al-Fayed after being turned down by TV organisations in Britain, including the BBC.

“I didn’t want to make a sensationalist film and I don’t think it is a sensationalist film. I think it reveals certain things which don’t add up and they should be questioned.

“That’s what the film is about — I believe the inquest was steered.”

Before a packed questions and answers session at the Galway festival last night, Mr Allen added that he believed there had been a cover-up both before and after princess Diana’s death.

A spokesperson for the filmmaker said the “groundbreaking” documentary “demonstrates how the cover-up was perpetrated” through media misreporting and the removal of vital evidence during the inquiry into the case.

However, the documentary has been the subject of criticism from some sections in Britain, including the BBC, over claims it has not provided new information on the matter.

Details of further screenings will be confirmed over the coming months.

Princess Diana, her boyfriend Dodi and their driver Henri Paul died on August 31, 1997, after a car crash at the Pont de l’Alma road tunnel in Paris while being chased by paparazzi.

Inquests in London during 2004 and 2007 attributed the accident to grossly negligent driving by Mr Paul and to the pursuing paparazzi.