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A battle royal over media intrusion

Hasan Suroor

Out ofLondon Prince William's girlfriend Kate Middleton is the latest target of the paparazzi.

AFTER THE Celebrity Big Brother show, which incidentally is pulling in a lot of Indian viewers thanks to Shilpa Shetty, the only other show in town these days is an almighty row going on between British media and the royal family over privacy. The chatterati is transfixed by the controversy that comes at the expiry of a gentleman's accord under which newspapers had voluntarily agreed not to intrude too much into Prince William's private life when he was at university.

But now that he has stepped into public life, they regard him as fair game and believe that as a potential successor to the British throne what he does makes news. And the same, they argue, applies to others who happen to acquire celebrity status by association — such as Prince William's girlfriend Kate Middleton. The result is a no-holds-barred media pursuit of the woman who could become princess one day. The market rate for an exclusive picture of this "ordinary" girl, as Prince William reportedly described her while appealing to the media to leave her alone, is rumoured to be in the region of up to £20,000. The definition of what constitutes an "exclusive" picture varies but certainly it has be more striking than her simply walking down the street.

Ms. Middleton, who celebrated her 25th birthday this week, has said that she cannot step out without being chased by the paparazzi camped outside her West London home, 24/7. In recent days, newspapers have been full of stories, conveniently attributed to unnamed "friends" and "courtiers," of how her life has become a veritable hell.

"Kate is a bright, down-to-earth young woman but there is a limit to how much more of this she can take. The situation is becoming unbearable," one such courtier has been quoted as saying.

Scenes outside her Chelsea home are said to have echoes of the way Princess Diana was "stalked" by photographers when she was dating Prince Charles. According to one widely published account, every morning Ms. Middleton is "confronted" by up to a dozen photographers as she steps out of her front door. They follow her wherever she goes — some pursuing her in what one friend described as a "military-style operation" as she drives to work.

Ms. Middleton, it is stated, is extremely "distressed" that she is not allowed to lead a normal life, and Prince William is "concerned" that his girlfriend is facing "harassment and intrusion." Reports say that he is "determined" to prevent a repeat of what his mother went through because of excessive media attention.

For all this hyperactivity, however, the media haven't stumbled upon anything dramatic so far — except for a photograph of an embarrassed Ms. Middleton receiving a parking ticket for £100. She was also believed to have been upset when a photograph of her on a London bus, "snatched" when she was going for a job interview, was widely published. On Tuesday, The Times published a picture of Ms. Middleton and Prince William "leaving a nightclub" — and on the opposite page it had Diana, "photographed by paparazzi on leaving a London hotel in 1993."

The juxtaposition was supposed to suggest that it was the Diana saga playing all over again but those who lived through Diana years say that the comparison is far-fetched and being deliberately made to hype the Middleton story.

Ms. Middleton's father, Michael Middleton, a millionaire businessman, has hired a high-profile law firm to seek legal remedy. The firm, which also (coincidentally?) represents Prince Charles, has warned newspapers that it will not hesitate to initiate criminal action if they do not "sharpen up their act." It is reported to be examining the possibility of invoking the Human Rights Act, which Princess Caroline of Monaco successfully used in 2004 to prevent the German media from publishing her snatched photographs.

There is also a move to take up the matter with the Press Complaints Commission whose chairman Christopher Meyer has already warned that he would be inclined to issue a "swift and harsh" condemnation of the media if the case came before the Commission and he was persuaded that they had crossed the line.

Prince William and Ms. Middleton met when they were at St. Andrews University and shared a flat. But media interest has grown only since Ms. Middleton started making public appearances alongside the Queen amid rumours that the couple are going to be engaged. The rumours have not been officially denied — not even after a leading British store brought out a range of gifts on the theme of a William-Middleton "wedding" last year.

The threat of legal action and behind-the-scenes muscle-flexing by Palace minders appear to be working as the Murdoch group which owns The Times, The Sunday Times, The Sun, and The News of the World has decided not to use any more paparazzi pictures of Ms. Middleton. It is a huge victory for the royal camp and could have a sobering effect on other newspapers.

Meanwhile, even as there is public sympathy for Ms. Middleton's situation many believe that it is time she and the royal family had a "reality check" before claiming that she is an "ordinary" citizen entitled to a "normal" life.

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