British royals decry paparazzi antics to get Prince George’s photo

Paparazzi harassment of Prince George has increased and photographers’ tactics are becoming increasingly dangerous, Kensington Palace has said.

The palace has issued an appeal to world media not to publish unauthorised images of the two-year-old, who is third in line to the throne.

Some paparazzi had gone to “extreme lengths” to take pictures and “a line has been crossed”, the palace said.

It wants to “inform discussion” on unauthorised photography of children.

The palace said a small number of media organisations, mostly in Germany, France, Australia, New Zealand and the US, had published photos of Prince George in “unacceptable circumstances”.

However it said the “vast majority”, and all UK publications, had refused.

The palace says in recent months, photographers have:

Used long range lenses to photograph the Duchess of Cambridge playing with her son in private parks

Monitored the movements of Prince George and his nanny around London parks, as well as the movements of other household staff

Photographed the children of private individuals visiting the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s home

Pursued cars leaving family homes

Used other children to draw Prince George into view around playgrounds

Hidden on private property in fields and woodland locations around the duke and duchess’s Norfolk home

Obscured themselves in sand dunes on a rural beach to take photos of Prince George playing with his grandmother

Placed locations near the home of Catherine’s parents in Berkshire under steady surveillance

It said the most recent incident, which was last week, involved a photographer who was discovered by police lying down in the boot of a rented car attempting to shoot photos outside a children’s play area.

Kensington Palace tweeted: “The Duke and Duchess want to extend their thanks for the kind and supportive messages they have received in recent months.

“They have been delighted to share photos of their children and will continue to do so in the months and years ahead.

“Yet undercover paparazzi continue to pursue their children, selling images of Prince George to international publications.”

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have released official photographs of their family

In the published letter, Kensington Palace communications secretary Jason Knauf said the prince had become the paparazzi’s “number one target”.

He said: “It is of course upsetting that such tactics – reminiscent as they are of past surveillance by groups intent on doing more than capturing images – are being deployed to profit from the image of a two-year-old boy.

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“In a heightened security environment such tactics are a risk to all involved.

“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.”

‘Dangerous presence’

Mr Knauf said the duke and duchess wanted Prince George and his sister Princess Charlotte “to be free to play in public and semi-public spaces with other children without being photographed”.

They want to give their children a childhood that is “free from harassment and surveillance”, he said. Prince George has appeared in public in recent months, such as after the birth of his sister Princess Charlotte

Paddy Harverson, former communications secretary to the Duke of Cambridge, said: “Just imagine if everywhere you went and when you took the children out to playgrounds, there were men carrying cameras, they were hiding.

“Often they don’t know they’re there until they see the photographs later in magazines, which are published abroad.”

The BBC’s royal correspondent Nicholas Witchell said the Royal Family was keen to emphasise it amounted to “intruding on the privacy of a two-year-old” and using a two-year-old to make “a large amount of money”.

But he said the issue was a “very difficult area of law” as it was unclear “what the law would say about the behaviour of these photographers”.

Credit: BBC

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