Diana, Paris, and Sky News

At the risk of banging on too much about Diana and becoming like The Daily Express, I caught a glimpse of Sky News earlier today. They were reporting on the Princes' response to the Inquest verdict, and had a split screen on their channel. One side was showing Kensington Palace, which I suppose makes an obscure form of sense. However the other side was showing the tunnel in Paris where Diana died. And I cannot work out why.

What on earth did they expect to see? Another fatal car accident? The rusting wreck of the beamer, still not cleared away by the French authorities? Perhaps the ghost of Diana, looking forlorn by the tunnel entrance. Maybe an MI6 agent arriving at the tunnel, only to breakdown in tears and confess to murder? I mean, there must be a cost attached to sending a camera operative to that site in Paris. And what did Sky News get in return? Footage of traffic. On a road. And not much else.

Maybe it is my inability to see a point in that footage that has denied me the chance to have a career in media...

The Diana Inquest: No, really?

The Diana Inquiry has found no evidence that Duke of Edinburgh, or MI6, had anything to do with the death of Princess Diana. I cannot be alone in thinking "you reckon? I could have told you that a loooong time ago." After all, any woman, being driven at high speed through Paris by a drunk driver, is at risk. And when said drunk driver hits a concrete block, and said woman isn't wearing a seat belt, you don't need an assassin. At the risk of being brutal, simple physics will intervene and kill.

But this big, fat, pointless waste of time has cost £7m. £7m? Christ on a trike! A small fortune spent investigating a mad as a badger conspiracy theory. We may as well have spent the money investigating the theories of David Icke. At least they are more credible. Or, failing that, at least they are more fun...

Hopefully now Al-Fayed will shut his mouth and stop spouting this nonsense at all and sundry. After all, as the coroner points out, his theories are ""so demonstrably without foundation" that even his lawyer was no longer pursuing them." Although I think I'm being optimistic there. I'm tempted to run a sweepstake on when Al-Fayed will denounce the verdict, or vow to fight on. My money's on by close of play to day...

Time To Get Over It

Apparently fewer than 20 people complained about the Diana documentary that apparently showed her dying. Hardly surprising. I'd imagine that most people who wanted to complain about the documentary managed to get their hysterical wailings out of the way before the programme was even broadcast.

Of course it was in poor taste of Channel Four to broadcast the images. Of course it was sensationalist. But what more could you expect from Channel Four? The station that broadcasts Big Brother. The station that broadcast the rapes, murders and wifebeating of Brookside Close for 21 years. And the station that broadcasts such great self help shows such as It's Me or the Dog and the execrable You Are What You Eat.

But Channel Four is simply responding to public demand when it comes to stuff like the Diana documentary. Ultimately there is a very simple way to stop Channel Four - and other elements of the media - continually revisiting that car accident ten years ago. And that is that we all lose our interest in hearing more and more about the dead Princess.

It was arguably a personal tragedy ten years ago - a personal tragedy that somehow was elevated to the level of a national tragedy. Three people died in that car, the nation only mourned the one. Then, and now, it leaves a bad taste in my mouth. There was something undignified about the way the nation fell apart in the aftermath of the death of one woman. But ten years on, we really, really, really should have moved on. An individual who is still wrapped up in the death of someone ten years ago would be a candidate for some sort of mental therapy. Diana died nearly a decade ago. It is time for the country to get over it.

The media will let Diana rest in peace when we all learn to let Diana rest in piece.

Shock! Horror! The Sun Speaks Sense!

No, really, take a look here. Their comments on the Stevens report into the absolutely bleeding obvious are absolutely right - it was an accident, it was nine years ago, let’s let it rest now! The fact that so much time and money has been wasted to prove that it is an accident when a blind drunk driver crashes a car into a concrete wall is ever so slightly sickening. There was no conspiracy, there were no murders – as Stevens says it was “a tragic accident”.

Even the Princes want an end to the torpid, seedy speculation. Of course, that doesn’t appear to be on the agenda of The Daily Express or The Daily Mail.