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Private Eye criticised for ‘distasteful’ Diana front page

The satirical magazine, Private Eye, has been branded as ‘distasteful’ by social media users after the latest edition refers to the death of Diana, Princess of Wales.

The Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall are depicted on the front page, in which speech bubbles are mocked in above their heads.

Camilla’s speech bubble reads ‘The anniversary isn’t going so well’, to which Charles is seen to reply ‘It’s a car crash.’

The magazine also jokes that inside this edition is a 96-page feature on the “papers’ Princess.”

Some have commented that the magazine is ‘distasteful’ with one person tweeting: “I want the monarchy dissolved, but that’s despicable.”

Others have said that the magazine is ‘appalling’ and tasteless. However, some say the front page is amusing.

One person tweeted: “What a wonderful cover! Well done to Private Eye.

Another user said: “Brutal front cover on [the] current edition of Private Eye. But hilarious (in a tasteless dark way, of course.)”

Private Eye is Britain’s best-selling current affairs magazine, having launched in 1961. However, despite the trend of print media declining in circulation, Private Eye is on an upward spiral and recorded its highest ever circulation in the second half of 2016.

The magazine has been criticised for its Diana coverage in the past. Following the death of the late Princess in 1997, their headline read “Media to blame”. Under the headline was a picture of a huge crowd outside of Buckingham Palace, with speech bubbles saying that papers were “a disgrace”, another agreeing, saying that it was impossible to get one anywhere, and another saying, “Borrow mine. It’s got a picture of the car.”

Many shops refused to stock Private Eye following the incident. The so called “Diana issue” is now one of the most highly sought-after back-issues of the magazine.

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