Ten years after Diana's death, the editors of the three leading British tabloids have admitted their share of guilt over the road mishap in which the Princess of Wales was killed in Paris.
The editors of News of the World, The Sun and Daily Mirror conceded that they had helped create an atmosphere in which the paparazzi, who were chasing Princess Diana when her car crashed in Paris in 1997, were out of control, The Daily Telegraph reported on Wednesday.
Phil Hall, the then editor of the News of the World, said it was a circle of culpability involving readers who demanded more photographs, the photographers, who chased her and the newspapers that published them.
"If the paparazzi hadn't been following her, the car wouldn't have been speeding and, you know, the accident may never have happened. A big Diana story could add 150,000 sales. So we were all responsible," he was quoted as saying.
Stuart Higgins, who edited The Sun said, "The death of Diana was the most tragic story during my period as editor. I have often questioned my role, the paper's role and the media's role generally in her death and the events leading up to it."
"The tabloids created a frenzy. But in the end, I believe it was just a terrible accident, caused by a drunken driver and possibly because of the lack of the high level of police and security protection that she enjoyed previously."
Even Piers Morgan, who was the editor of the Daily Mirror in 1997, admitted that as editors they had not done enough to curb the wilder excesses of freelance photographers.
"We in the media were culpable in allowing the paparazzi to become ridiculously over the top. Everyone working on national newspapers, in the first few days after she died, felt a collective sense that the paparazzi were out of control in relation to Diana. She was the biggest celebrity we have ever seen and it got completely out of hand," he was quoted by the daily as saying.
