The Keith Allen film, Unlawful Killing, which was set to claim onscreen that Princess Diana and her boyfriend Dodi Al Fayed were murdered in a conspiracy in which participated Diana’s former father-in-law Prince Philip, was dropped as it failed in securing insurance to protect distributors against legal action.

Lawyers had demanded 87 contentious scenes to be cut from the film before a British screening. Even the plan to release it in the US in August to coincide with the 15th anniversary of the deaths had to be dropped because of complications related to insurance.

The film was screened at both the Cannes Film Festival in France and the Galway Film Festival in Ireland in 2011. A spokesman for the film appropriately proclaimed, “Unlawful Killing has been sold all around the world.”

He added, “But there was a specific form of insurance needed by the US distributors to cover them for their French and UK offices. This proved impossible to secure. The film has been withdrawn in perpetuity.”

The £2.5 million film got appreciation from Dodi’s father Mohamed Al Fayed, who had always claimed the deaths were not an accident.

On 31 August 1997, the car of the Princess of Wales and Dodi Fayed met an accident in the Pont de l’Alma road tunnel in Paris. Her companion, Dodi Fayed, and the driver of the Mercedes-Benz W140, Henri Paul, were declared dead at the scene of the accident. The Princess died from severe injuries.

While Keith Allen’s film has been dropped, Oliver Hirschbiegel is making his film Diana with Naomi Watts playing the role of the Princess of Wales.

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