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A letter from the palace won’t stop the paparazzi pursuing Prince George A letter from the palace won’t stop the paparazzi pursuing Prince George
(about 2 hours later)
The running conflict between the young royals’ dual lives as a piece of the constitutional furniture, crown sceptre and first family, and also parents of small children who just want to have fun has hit another of those insoluble dilemmas.The running conflict between the young royals’ dual lives as a piece of the constitutional furniture, crown sceptre and first family, and also parents of small children who just want to have fun has hit another of those insoluble dilemmas.
On the one hand, even if you think there should be some quid pro quo for all those houses and flunkies, it seems reasonable that Prince William, Princess Catherine and their small children should be able to spend time together and with friends confident of their privacy and security. On the other, small blond toddlers are pretty universally irresistible. When they are also celebrities, they become big money. On the one hand, even if you think there should be some quid pro quo for all those houses and flunkies, it seems reasonable that Prince William, the Duchess of Cambridge and their small children should be able to spend time together and with friends confident of their privacy and security. On the other, small blond toddlers are pretty universally irresistible. When they are also celebrities, they become big money.
It is a precarious act, maintaining the royal aura without alienating the huge popular enthusiasm which so far they have generally managed so shrewdly, not least in an age when the idea of privacy itself has been Instagrammed almost out of significance.It is a precarious act, maintaining the royal aura without alienating the huge popular enthusiasm which so far they have generally managed so shrewdly, not least in an age when the idea of privacy itself has been Instagrammed almost out of significance.
The letter published on the Prince of Wales’s website this morning, which could be read as a final warning to the paparazzi, is a masterclass in communication strategy. There is an astonishing and frankly chilling description of the lengths to which some photographers are prepared to go to get informal and unauthorised shots of the family.The letter published on the Prince of Wales’s website this morning, which could be read as a final warning to the paparazzi, is a masterclass in communication strategy. There is an astonishing and frankly chilling description of the lengths to which some photographers are prepared to go to get informal and unauthorised shots of the family.
This includes hiding out in the woods round the places they visit (their home in Norfolk, Catherine’s family home in Berkshire), or on the dunes above the beach where Prince George and his grandmother (not the royal one) are playing. They use other children to try to lure the princely great-grandson into shot. The most eyecatching ruse took place only last week, when a particularly determined photographer built himself a kind of hide on wheels and parked up by a play area.This includes hiding out in the woods round the places they visit (their home in Norfolk, Catherine’s family home in Berkshire), or on the dunes above the beach where Prince George and his grandmother (not the royal one) are playing. They use other children to try to lure the princely great-grandson into shot. The most eyecatching ruse took place only last week, when a particularly determined photographer built himself a kind of hide on wheels and parked up by a play area.
And if the chilling sentence that follows this account – “The worry is that it will not always be possible to quickly distinguish between someone taking photos and someone intending to do more immediate harm,” – sounds hyperbolic, it probably isn’t. After all, no one could blame Prince William for being paranoid about the paparazzi after their treatment of his mother, Princess Diana.And if the chilling sentence that follows this account – “The worry is that it will not always be possible to quickly distinguish between someone taking photos and someone intending to do more immediate harm,” – sounds hyperbolic, it probably isn’t. After all, no one could blame Prince William for being paranoid about the paparazzi after their treatment of his mother, Princess Diana.
Thus set up, the letter goes into a warm appeal that suggests no decent human being, once they understood how the pictures had been obtained, would want to buy any magazine that published them. If such an appeal could ever work, then this should be the one that turns a nation of doting subjects into an army of vigilantes, ready to prick a paparazzo to death with nappy pins.Thus set up, the letter goes into a warm appeal that suggests no decent human being, once they understood how the pictures had been obtained, would want to buy any magazine that published them. If such an appeal could ever work, then this should be the one that turns a nation of doting subjects into an army of vigilantes, ready to prick a paparazzo to death with nappy pins.
In the end, since the paparazzi, like drug dealers, will never give up while money’s to be made, it may be that the royals themselves have to make a choice. Are they royal and dignified in the traditional manner, in which case it will be a question of playtime behind high walls (at least, as the letter acknowledges, they have lovely gardens to play in). Or are they royal and celebrities – as the Mario Testino christening images suggest – in which case they may have to live like all the other celebrities, in that nebulous world between being private, and not being private.In the end, since the paparazzi, like drug dealers, will never give up while money’s to be made, it may be that the royals themselves have to make a choice. Are they royal and dignified in the traditional manner, in which case it will be a question of playtime behind high walls (at least, as the letter acknowledges, they have lovely gardens to play in). Or are they royal and celebrities – as the Mario Testino christening images suggest – in which case they may have to live like all the other celebrities, in that nebulous world between being private, and not being private.