Italian Diana death picture sparks UK outrage

LONDON, July 14 (Reuters) British tabloids who revelled in covering every twist in Princess Diana's tortured lovelife today united in condemning an Italian magazine for printing a picture of her dying after a Paris car crash.

The popular press, once accused by princess Diana's brother Charles of hounding to death the world's most photographed woman, centred their rage on Chi magazine for its picture of her slumped in the mangled wreckage.

''Shame On You'' thundered The Sun, Britain's best-selling daily newspaper, which reprinted the photo in Chi but blanked out the image of Diana.

''Outrage at Picture of Dying Diana in Magazine,'' declared the Daily Express. ''Dying Diana Photo Fury'' was The Daily Mirror headline.

''This reaction does not come as a surprise to me. There is no doubting the double standards of the British media,'' said leading publicist Max Clifford.

''Every time anyone does a kiss and tell story, the newspapers tear them apart even though the same newspapers were bidding for the story,'' he told Reuters.

Clifford said ''There is a huge public interest and if they are not horrendous images, I cannot get myself as stirred up as they seem to be.'' At the height of her fame, a front-page picture of princess Diana would always boost the circulation of tabloids and celebrity magazines.

But, almost nine years after her death, that attraction has waned among Britons who succumbed to an uncharacteristic outpouring of national grief in the days after the crash.

Daily Mirror royal correspondent James Whitaker took a phlegmatic approach to the photo's publication, telling Reuters: ''It is fairly grim -- but inevitable. It is revolting but people like revolting things. It is the way humans are.'' But royal biographer Penny Junor was disgusted, above all sparing a thought for Diana's sons William and Harry.

''This is totally tasteless,'' she told Reuters. ''How would anybody like to see photos of their dead mother? It is ghastly. I cannot believe anyone would do that.'' Chi defended its decision to publish with an editorial spokesman for the Milan-based magazine saying: ''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.'' REUTERS PKS PM1754