PCC To Set Out New Guidelines For Prince William’s Privacy
Lord Wakeham, the chairman of the Press Complaints Commission (PCC) has promised that the organisation will come down hard on newspapers, TV crews and paparazzi if they subject Prince William to harassment while he is at university.
In a speech today at St Bride’s Institute, Fleet Street, Lord Wakeham warned newspapers against publishing pictures of the Prince taken when he is in a private place or “somewhere there is a reasonable expectation of privacy”, or those obtained in hostile circumstances. “The PCC will come down hard on publication of any pictures of Prince William that have been obtained through intimidation or persistent pursuit,” he said.
The new guidelines are an extension of the code of practice which applies to public figures and ordinary people alike. “No one is asking for special treatment and the principles in the Code on which I am expanding here apply to everyone else as much as him,” said Lord Wakeham. However, this was accompanied by an insistence that the Prince is entitled to a private life. “Newspapers must exercise restraint”, he continued,”They must check their facts. He must absolutely not be ‘fair game'”
In his speech, the PCC chairman pointed to the “considerable success of self regulation” which has saved Prince William from undue press attention during his schooling. This self-regulation was also fuelled by the untimely death of his mother, Princess Diana, whose demise was to some extent blamed on the paparazzi.
That said, the newspaper industry is facing a decline in readership. Circulation figures in the month following Diana’s death showed just how much pull a royal story has, and the controversial publication of topless photos of the then Sophie Rhys-Jones last year showed that editors are still willing to risk the wrath of Buckingham Palace to up their sales.
During William’s birthday earlier in the month, his press aides released so few official photos that two tabloids ended up with identical headlines and pictures of him in a Union Flag waistcoat on their front pages. Yet the lack of material did not stop most of the national newspapers from pouring money into the production of supplements and specials on the subject.
Prince William is not only the son of the heir to the throne, but the son of the woman whose face used to guarantee a hike in sales if it appeared on a front cover. Even Lord Wakeham admitted, “I am a realist. I do not believe it is possible or desirable to prohibit newspapers entirely from speculation and reports about young ladies that might eventually become a more permanent feature of his life.”
This autumn’s government white paper has sparked calls for lighter regulation of the media, even the self-regulation which the press has long insisted is the only guarantee of free speech. However, self-regulation depends on the restraint and cooperation of those involved. In the borderless world of the internet the regulations of one country hold little sway. This could prove an additional pressure on the editorial restraint Lord Wakeham is hoping will continue.
Press Complaints Commission: 020 7353 1248