Controversial Princess Di documentary 'Unlawful Killing' is itself killed - Examiner.com

A controversial documentary about the deaths of Princess Diana and her boyfriend Dodi Al-Fayed, "Unlawful Killing," has been shelved permanently, after the producers were unable to find anyone to insure themselves and distributors from potential lawsuits.

The film had been been financed by Al-Fayed's father, Mohamed Al-Fayed, and was produced by Allied Stars, his London-based production company.

The film was sold last year to several foreign markets at the Cannes Film Festival and the American Film Market for 2012 distribution. As you might expect, one of the markets to pass on the film was reportedly the U.K.

Interestingly enough, although neither the U.K. nor France had picked up the film, the U.S. distributor interested in releasing the film required global insurance coverage - and no insurer would cover the film in the U.K. or France. That meant that the requirement could not be met, and once that became clear, Allied decided to withdraw the film from distribution completely.

The documentary, which alleged a cover-up following the 1997 deaths of Diana and Al-Fayed, was set to be released in the U.S. and a number of foreign markets on the 15th anniversary of the Paris car crash that killed the pair and their driver, August 31, 2012.

Allied president Conor Nolan said, "It became undoable. We are all disappointed. We worked on Unlawful Killing for four years. We've written back to all of the distributors and are returning their minimum guarantees. We're doing the decent thing."

Directed by Keith Allen, the film paints a different view of the accident than the 2007 inquest results. The inquest and subsequent ruling stated Diana and Al-Fayed were killed because of gross negligence by the driver Henri Paul, as well as the paparazzi who were chasing the couple at the time.

Allen's film, though, details a conspiracy which was meant to hide key facts from British media.

After the film was turned down by British film companies and broadcasters, Mohamed Al-Fayed, who has long blamed the Royal Family for the death of his son, opted to finance the project himself.

The film's trailer can be seen in the sidebar.