Channel 4 defiant over Diana crash pics.

CHANNEL 4 chiefs yesterday refused to pull the plug on a documentary featuring harrowing photos of the crash that killed Princess Diana.

They said the programme - to be aired on June 6 - had been "carefully and sensitively" made.

But critics said using the images was just a cynical shock tactic aimed at pulling in more viewers.

Diana: The Witnesses In The Tunnel features the first public airing on TV of pictures taken by French paparazzi immediately after the 1997 accident in Paris.

They reportedly include a photo of a dying Diana receiving oxygen and other images of the car's interior and the victims.

When an Italian magazine published the images last year, princes William and Harry issued a public statement revealing their "great hurt" at the decision.

Channel 4 said they'd blacked out the occupants of the car in the only photo that shows them.

A spokesman said: "These photos are an important and accurate eye-witness record.

"In none of the pictures is it possible to identify Diana or indeed any of the crash victims."

Channel 4's head of history, science and religion Hamish Mykura added that the image they'd used had been published on the front pages of some British newspapers last year.

But Rosa Monckton, a friend of Diana's, said using the photos "in order to sell a programme is absolutely disgusting".

Diana, 36, Dodi al Fayed, 42, and driver Henri Paul were killed when their car crashed in the Pont de l'Alma tunnel.

A police inquiry concluded Paul was drunk and driving too fast.

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KILLED: Diana