A new US theme park has been criticised after unveiling an attraction based on Princess Diana’s death.

The 1997 car crash that killed the royal will be recreated in 3D for visitors to National Enquirer Live, an “immersive museum” in Tennessee focusing on the history of the American tabloid and its salacious celebrity stories.

The theme park, which was due to open in the town of Pigeon Forge on Friday, will also feature replicas of the crime scene where OJ Simpson’s ex-wife was found murdered and of Michael Jackson dangling his baby from a hotel balcony.

Its creators insisted the Diana exhibit had been sensitively handled and was “definitely not in poor taste”.

“There’s no blood. There’s none of that. You see the car crash through computer animation,” said Robin Turner, one of National Enquirer Live’s principle investors.

The theme park will explore stories that have been covered by the National Enquirer (National Enquirer Live)

He told The Daily Beast: “It’s projected, and you see the buildings and everything in a 3-D presentation. And it shows the pathway as she left the Ritz hotel, and the paparazzi chasing her, and the bang-flash that we think blinded the driver — and how it happened.

“It’s definitely not in poor taste. It’s just showing the route of what happened. For people who’ve never been to Paris, it’s just showing the topography, and the distance, and the tunnel, and that kind of stuff ... It’s done very professionally.”

Following the attraction, visitors will be polled on whether they believe a number of debunked conspiracy theories – including claims Diana was pregnant at the time of her death and was murdered on the orders of Buckingham Palace.

Diana’s former media manager told The Independent the exhibit was “in very bad taste”.

Dickie Arbiter said: “I wouldn’t call it an attraction, I’d call it very tacky. Tacky is not strong enough, but I don’t think there is a word that’s strong enough.

“[Robin Turner] says it’s not in bad taste – well I doubt he’d know anything in bad taste if it slapped him in the face.”

Mr Arbiter, who was the royal family’s spokesman between 1988 and 2000, said Prince Harry and Prince William would be “very offended” by their mother’s death being turned into entertainment.

“Any decent-thinking person would be offended by such a thing,” he added. “Anybody who goes to something like that would be a bit suspect.”

Buckingham Palace declined to comment.

Diana: a life in pictures Show all 20 1 /20 Diana: a life in pictures Diana: a life in pictures Diana arriving on 4 October, 1990 for a charity gala at the Departmental Auditorium in Washington Kevin Larkin/AFP Diana: a life in pictures Diana and Prince Charles at their wedding St Paul Cathedral 29 July 1981 AFP/Getty Images Diana: a life in pictures Prince Charles and Diana at the memorial to the British Gloster Regiment outside Seoul. The Royal couple were on a four-day official visit to Korea AFP/Getty Images Diana: a life in pictures Diana listens to a senior nun of the Missionaries of Charity at the house of Mother Teresa in Calcutta on 15 February, 1992 Diana: a life in pictures Diana, Princes William and Harry applaud during the Wales vs France Five Nations Cup match at Cardiff Arms Park on 1 February, 1992 Jean-Pierre Muller/AFP Diana: a life in pictures Diana wearing a heavy duty protection vest and face shield, accompanied by a mine-clearing expert of the Halo Trust 15 January 1997 during her visit to the mine fields near Huambo, Angola AFP/Getty Images Diana: a life in pictures Diana waves to the crowd as she arrives at the Cité de la Villette in Paris on 14 November, 1992 during a three-day visit in France Pierre Verdy/AFP Diana: a life in pictures Diana visiting Khufu, the great Pyramid in Giza on 12 May 1992 Manoocher Deghati/AFP Diana: a life in pictures Diana departs her London health club, 20 November 1995 AFP/Getty Images Diana: a life in pictures Diana listens to a young boy with learning difficulties on 13 November, 1992 during her visit to a school in Paris Joel Robine/AFP Diana: a life in pictures Ronald and Nancy Reagan welcome Diana and Prince Charles to the White House Don Rypka/AFP Diana: a life in pictures Diana and Prince Charles watch Indonesian tribal dancers in Yogyakarta, Indonesia on 5 November 1989 Kazuhiro Nogi/AFP Diana: a life in pictures Diana talks to amputees at the the Neves Bendinha Orthopedic Workshop on the outskirts of Luanda on 14 January, 1997 Joao Silva/AP Diana: a life in pictures Diana with the royal family outside the London Clarence House residence on 4 August 1989 Johnny Eggitt/AFP Diana: a life in pictures Diana and Prince Charles arrive at the church for the funeral of Earl Spencer, Diana's father, who died on 29 March, 1992 Martyn Hayhow/AFP Diana: a life in pictures Diana chats with 15-year old landmine victim, Bosnian muslim girl Mirzeta Gabelic, in front of Mirzeta's home in Sarajevo Hidajet Delic/AP Diana: a life in pictures Diana attending the France-Wales Five-Nations' tournament match on 21 January, 1995 in the grandstand at the Parc des Princes Jean-Pierre Muller/AFP Diana: a life in pictures Diana flanked by tennis players – America's Michael Chang and Sweden's Jonas Bjorkman – during the awards ceremony at the Hong Kong Open on 23 April, 1995 Emmanuel Dunand/AFP Diana: a life in pictures Diana, Prince Harry, and Prince William gather for the commemorations of VJ Day, 19 August 1995, in London AFP/Getty Images Diana: a life in pictures Diana and Jemima Khan, wife of Pakistani cricketer Imran Khan, attend a variety show 22 February 1996 in Lahore Saeed Khan/AFP

Asked if he believed the royal family would find the attraction offensive, Mr Turner said: “I hope not. But that’s hard to say. I know they’re very sensitive. With everything out there ... you know, there’s nothing new that’s being presented.

“It’s done in a positive fashion. It brings attention to the different theories behind it that the Enquirer has covered over the years.”

He said visitors would not be confronted with close-ups of Diana’s body in the back seat of the Mercedes Benz car that crashed in Paris as it was pursued by paparazzi on 31 August, 1997. Her Egyptian boyfriend, Dodi Fayed, and the couple’s French driver were also killed.

The Diana exhibit is one of about 100 inside the 20,000sq ft theme park, which is four miles down the road from Dolly Parton’s theme park, Dollywood.

Other rooms will focus on conspiracy theories about John F Kennedy’s assassination and a famed 1977 National Enquirer cover photo of Elvis Presley’s corpse.

The park is one of two National Enquirer Live attractions that have been built by Mr Turner’s amusements company, FrontPage Attractions, at a cost of $25m (£20m.) The second is in Branson, Missouri.