Leave prince alone at Eton, press is told
By Jane Thynne, Media Correspondent, and Robert Hardman
A STERN warning to newspapers to respect the privacy of Prince William when he starts school at Eton was issued yesterday by Lord Wakeham, the chairman of the Press Complaints Commission. The prince must be allowed to enjoy his schooldays "free from the fear of prying cameras", he said.
Given the prospect of some media organisations and foreign paparazzi trying to observe the prince's schooldays at close quarters, Lord Wakeham reiterated that the newspaper industry's code of practice outlawed any invasion of privacy unless it was in the public interest. Separate parts of the code protect all children under 16 from media intrusion.
Hinting at severe sanctions, he said that breaches of the prince's privacy, or that of any other child, "will be viewed most gravely by me and the commission".
Even if Prince William suffered a sporting injury, he was entitled to privacy unless Buckingham Palace decided to publicise it.
Lord Wakeham added that even the much-reported episode of the 14-year-old Prince Charles imbibing cherry brandy during his schooldays would not be suitable for coverage today.
"Prince William is not an institution, nor a soap star, nor a football hero - he is a child." He was entitled to the same protection from intrusion as all children, including his own son, also starting at boarding school next term, and Euan Blair, 11, the son of Tony Blair, the Labour leader, who starts at the London Oratory School.
Prince William "must be allowed to make mistakes and learn the way we all did - without our reading consistently of his successes and failures in the columns of our newspapers".
"The prince having a fag behind the bike shed"
Lord Wakeham, who was addressing media representatives in London, effectively outlawed interviewing the prince, asking other children about him and photographing him at school without the permission of authorities or parents. Nor would he tolerate "secondary reporting" whereby British publications run pictures and stories in breach of the code which have appeared abroad.While the code contains specific clauses on children under 16, Lord Wakeham said that Prince William's 16th birthday should not be seen as a green light to greater intrusion.
The real extent to which the press will find its reporting curtailed depends on Buckingham Palace's willingness to lodge a complaint. While a commission spokesman said that even photographs of benign incidents such as "the prince having a fag behind the bike shed" would constitute an invasion, the Palace may not always choose to complain.
However, the Palace has shown itself more willing to object, with six complaints lodged in the past year. Five concerned Prince Edward and his girlfriend Sophie Rhys-Jones and one came from the Princess Royal concerning a piece in Today newspaper about her son, Peter Phillips.
A spokesman for St James's Palace that the Royal Family had not initiated yesterday's lecture but there is no doubt that there had been close liaison between the commission and royal aides.
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