LONDON, July 14: Britain’s princes William and Harry lashed out on Friday at an Italian magazine that published taboo photographs of their mother Princess Diana dying in the wreckage of a Paris car crash.

“We feel deeply saddened that such a low has been reached,” the two princes said in a rare statement.

“Despite the support shown to us and our mother’s memory by so many people over the last eight years, we feel that, as her sons, we would be failing in our duty to her now if we did not protect her, as she once did us.

“Therefore, we appeal to all forms of media throughout the world to appreciate fully that publishing such material causes great hurt to us, our father, our mother’s family and all those who so loved and respected her.”

Milan-based magazine Chi defended its decision to run the photo, which showed Diana slumped and dying in the mangled Mercedes moments after it slammed into a tunnel at high speed, killing her, her lover and their driver.

A spokesman for the magazine said: “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.”

British tabloids, which once revelled in covering every twist in Diana’s tortured love life, had refrained from publishing pictures of her death.

They united on Friday in condemning Chi.

“Shame On You” thundered The Sun, which reprinted the photo in Chi, but blanked out the image of Diana.—Reuters