London ? Princess Diana’s sons spoke out Friday to protect the memory of their mother, condemning the decision of an Italian magazine to print a photograph taken moments after the car crash that claimed her life.

The black-and-white photo in Milan-based Chi magazine showed the princess receiving oxygen in the wreckage of the car crash that killed her on Aug. 31, 1997. The picture was excerpted from “Lady Diana: The Criminal Investigation,” a new book by French author Jean-Michel Caradec’h.

“We feel deeply saddened that such a low has been reached,” princes William and Harry said in a statement released Friday by their father’s office, Clarence House. “Despite the support shown to us and our mother’s memory by so many people over the last eight years, we feel that as her sons we would be failing in our duty to her now if we did not protect her as she once did us.”