Clarence
House has specifically requested that British publications not print or post
the pics of the 27-year-old's royal bum online due to the implied privacy
violation that occurred when a visitor to Harry's Las Vegas hotel suite snapped
a couple of cell phone pics.
Wait...can
they do that?
Lady
Gaga thinks whoever took those pics is a "s--tty friend"
Not
legally, but even the notoriously raunchy London tabloids are laying off.
"The
royal family can ask to deny the right of the photos being published, but it's
more of the British media self-policing and being afraid to print them,"
Rory Carroll, U.S. West Coast correspondent for The Guardian, tells E! News.
"In this climate, with the Leveson Inquiry [into press ethics], there's
been so much focus on the media, especially the tabloids and their excesses,
like the hacking scandal—it's made everyone much more skittish."
The
family, which has confirmed that the cheeky pics were indeed of Harry enjoying
a "private holiday" in Vegas, is said to have made the blackout
request to the Press Complaints Commission, citing the third clause of the PCC
Editor's Code of Practice: "It is unacceptable to photograph individuals
in private places without their consent." (The PCC is not a legal body,
but a regulatory agency.)
"I
think we're seeing more restraint from the press than we would have seen a few
years ago," Carroll said. "Five or 10 years ago, there would have
been a gleeful rush on the part of many newspapers to splash these photos on
their pages. And the fact that they've been hesitating reflects the climate of
questions and a bit of uncertainty to what they can and cannot get away with,
what the public would or would not accept."
Last
year, a hacking scandal brought down the century-old, News Corp-owned News of
the World and led to the arrests of several top staffers. Though the company
denied it, there was also speculation that the controversy prompted Rupert
Murdoch to step down from the boards of the U.K.'s NI Group, Times Newspaper
Holdings and News Corp Investments.
Five
other Harry situations
Not
that the technically voluntary embargo means that ladies and gents in the U.K.
are out of luck if they want to see Prince Harry's bare backside—so long as
they don't just read newspapers or only peruse British websites, that is.
The
royal ban "has zero impact in terms of keeping a cap on the news,"
Carroll confirmed. "There's no way to stop a story like this. The genie is
out of the bottle and Buckingham Palace is aware of that. I don't see what they
can gain by keeping these stories out of the British press. For the Brits in
London or Edinburgh, TMZ is just one click away."
"If
the public wants to see them, they've seen them already," he added.
"I think there's two things the papers are weighing here—one is the effect
of publishing them on their reputation. Secondly, they're weighing how many
more copies they would sell by publishing the photos. I'm sure that's been the
question that's dominating."
Lady
Gaga must have been inspired—she flashed her breasts!
The
bottom line vs. royal anger over exposing Harry's bottom? Hmm...
Because
so many people can see the photos online for free, "the opportunity is
lost to publish the photos exclusively," Carroll said. "If the photos
were exclusive, I think [the papers] would have done so. But now the commission
of publishing the photos is minor, so they aren't willing to taint their
reputation."
He
noted that the relative amount of restraint the British press has been showing
lately harkens back to the days following the death of Harry's mum, Princess
Diana, who was killed in a car crash while her driver was fleeing paparazzi.
Remember
when Prince Harry was just hanging out in Vegas with Ryan Lochte?
"When
Diana died," Carroll said, "the tabloid press was very defensive
because paparazzi were blamed for having precipitated the car crash. There was
a lot of hostility towards the media. Tabloid editors were saying, 'Never again
will we dabble our fingers in the stuff of other people's souls.' It was a kinder, gentler period of pursuing
celebrities and stalking families with paps.
"And
I think that period lasted about five minutes."
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