The UK Press Complaints Commission won’t be investigating the UK Sun‘s publishing naked pictures of Prince Harry, the BBC reported.
In a statement, the palace’s spokesperson said that “we have decided not to pursue a complaint” but maintaining the palace’s “opinion that a hotel room is a private space where its occupants would have a reasonable expectation of privacy,” the BBC reported. Further, the palace said: “Prince Harry is currently focused entirely on his deployment in Afghanistan, so to pursue a complaint relating to his private life would not be appropriate at this time and would prove to be a distraction.”
iMediaEthics asked the PCC for clarification on whether the palace complained to the PCC and decided to drop the complaint, or if the palace never complained. The PCC’s Jonathan Collett told iMediaEthics by email that:
“The PCC notes the comments made today by representatives of Prince Harry. On 6 September the Commission issued a statement confirming that, at that time, it did not consider that it would be appropriate to open an investigation into this matter in the absence of a formal complaint to the Commission from Prince Harry. It will consider the matter further at its next regular meeting.
“As you can probably deduce from above we have never received a formal complaint from Prince Harry.”
The Sun ran the photos of Prince Harry, taken in hotel room during a “private” trip, despite being asked by the Palace through the PCC not to run the pictures.
On Sept. 3, the PCC’s Collett told iMediaEthics that it received 3,800 complaints “from members of the public” but none from Prince Harry. Later, the PCC issued statement saying it would be “inappropriate” to investigate the public’s complaints because Prince Harry’s representatives didn’t complain so it could be an “intrusion.”
Hat Tip: US Magazine