The film, called ‘Unlawful Killing,’ asserts that the Duke of Edinburgh is a “psychopath” in the mould of Fred West, that the Princess was murdered by the Establishment and that the Queen and other members of the Royal family are “gangsters in tiaras.” As the film was premiered at Cannes, its director, Keith Allen, tried to defend the “ludicrous” slurs on the monarchy as he was accused by the Princess’s closest friend of cashing in on her death.
Allen, best known for playing the Sheriff of Nottingham in the BBC’s ‘Robin Hood’ TV series, had already upset those closest to the Princess by including a photograph of her lying fatally injured in the back of a car moments after it had crashed in Paris in 1997. And the astonishing comments about the Royal family which are made in the film have provoked fresh contempt. Rosa Monckton, the Princess’s best friend, said, “Why is he doing this? the only reason he could be doing it is to make money by appealing to the conspiracy theorists. I also think he’s an attention seeker.”
The film, which took almost four years to produce, is so defamatory towards members of the Royal family that Allen will not even attempt to distribute it in Britain, having been told by lawyers he would have to make 87 cuts to it.
But he believes it will make money in America, where conspiracy theories about the Princess’s death remain popular, despite the conclusion of a six-month inquest in 2008 that there was “not a shred of evidence” to support Mr Fayed’s claims.
The film takes its title from the verdict of the inquest jury, which found that Henri Paul, the drink-driver who crashed the Mercedes in which the Princess died, and a number of paparazzi photographers pursuing the vehicle, had been guilty of “gross negligence.” Mr Fayed is interviewed in the film, and repeats his long-held belief that the Princess, 36, and his son Dodi, 41, were murdered on the orders of the Duke of Edinburgh because he did not want the Princess to marry a Muslim. Surprisingly, the film neglects to mention the fact that it was entirely bankrolled by Mr Fayed.
One scene features a photograph of the Queen and Princess Margaret, with Allen claiming in a voiceover that “many people regard them as gangsters in tiaras”. He goes on to say that “the Royal family is notorious for its racism”. One of the contributors to the documentary is Oliver James, a clinical psychologist and broadcaster. He tells Allen, “I think Prince Philip is someone who is devoid of an internal sense of right and wrong, he doesn’t care for anyone else… that is very like Fred West or any other psychopathic individual.”
The film also makes repeated references to the Duke of Edinburgh’s “Nazi background” whilst ignoring his distinguished Naval career in the Second World War. Asked if he supported Mr Fayed’s view that the Duke was involved in the Princess’s death, Allen replied, “I do believe that Diana was in a position to rock a number of boats and I do believe that a warning may have silenced her. You could argue the crash was a warning-only situation and I think it may have gone too far.”
Martyn Gregory, author of the definitive account of the fatal crash in the Alma underpass, called ‘Diana: The Last Days,’ branded the film “ludicrous” and said, “It simply regurgitates everything Mohamed Fayed has been saying since the year 2000. It is rehearsing the Planet Fayed view.” A spokesman for Mr Fayed said he had seen the film and “he is absolutely delighted with it.” Buckingham Palace declined to comment on the film. -The Telegraph
