Harbottle & Lewis acts on Prince Harry naked pictures privacy debate
Harbottle & Lewis has been acting on behalf of the Royal Family over the publication of naked pictures of Prince Harry.
The firm was called in by the royals after photographs emerged of the prince inside a hotel room in Las Vegas. It is understood that the advice is being led by senior partner Gerrard Tyrrell, who heads the media and information, litigation and advertising department, advising high-profile clients on information protection, privacy and defamation.
Once Clarence House had confirmed the mobile phone pictures were legitimate, they were distributed across the internet.
Harbottle & Lewis then issued warning letters to the British press via the Press Complaints Commission (PCC) suggesting that publication of the photographs would be an invasion of Harry’s right to privacy under the PCC’s code of ethics.
The guidance suggested that the pictures did not pass the ‘public interest test’ and that as they were taken in a private hotel room, the prince had a reasonable expectation of privacy.
The firm has previously acted for The Queen, Prince Charles and Kate Middleton when the Royal Family had concerns about paparazzi pictures and the use of unauthorised or intrusive photographs.
Tyrrell was also instructed to respond to a claim in the Evening Standard that the Duke of Edinburgh was suffering from cancer.
Today, The Sun has published the pictures of Prince Harry on its front page, calling its editorial decision a “test of the freedom of the press”.
Readers' comments (10)
PY | 24-Aug-2012 11:44 am
Has the polo pony not bolted?
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RG1 | 24-Aug-2012 12:20 pm
I find it strange that in all the furore about the story being reported because it is a matter of public interest, not one person has pointed out that the story can be discussed without needing to publish the photos themselves, thus satisfying the public interest in debating the prince's behaviour without also satisfying the interest of the newspapers in showing a naked celebrity - and this despite the fact that I get all my news from the radio, which of course is the one medium which is incapable of showing the photos...
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Anonymous | 24-Aug-2012 1:56 pm
I hope for their sake that Harbottle & Lewis aren't on payment by results .
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Anonymous | 24-Aug-2012 1:58 pm
Anyone who wanted to see these photos could have gone on the internet and seen them quite easily. There is simply no good reason for The Sun to have published them - while it may interest the public, the contention that it is in the public interest is complete nonsense. For The Sun to pretend that this is about anything other than selling more papers is cant of the highest order.
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Anonymous | 24-Aug-2012 3:18 pm
I don't understand how it is wrong to publish the pictures in a paper when they are all over the internet already. there is absolutely no difference to the end result that everybody has seen them anyway. On a slightly different note I completely disagree with some comments in the media that Harry should be allowed to let off steam and get drunk and naked. I think its utterly irresponsible of a member of the royal family to portray that image of themselves to the public. Everyone these days owns a mobile with camera and nothing is private any longer in the 3rd millennium; not even behind closed hotel room doors - FACT! the boy needs to grow up and stop behaving like a 14 year old!
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Anonymous | 24-Aug-2012 5:03 pm
As far as his behaviour goes, I'm all for it. The antics of this gormless plonker (good at art, I seem to remember hearing when he did his GCSEs) make a much more compelling argument against monarchy in the public mind than any amount of 'campaigning'.
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Anonymous | 24-Aug-2012 5:11 pm
Anonymous | 24-Aug-2012 3:18 pm
"FACT! the boy needs to grow up and stop behaving like a 14 year old!"
From your statement it seems as though you had some pretty raucous teenage years!
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Anonymous | 24-Aug-2012 7:29 pm
Single Man in his twenties goes on the lash and lets his hair down. So where's the story?
Yawn
Public interest. Rubbish. No interest. It's yesterday's fish & Chips so cut the prurient tosh
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Anonymous | 25-Aug-2012 4:55 am
Why is this even news? Yawwnnn .... who cares ...
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Anonymous | 28-Aug-2012 2:53 pm
Nothing story. He is a single lad in his mid twenties. He went on holiday (not on royal duty) and had a good time.
Shows the royals are human like the rest of us. Unless your a prune you shouldnt have a problem with this
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