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April 22, 2014

Australian media ‘crashes in’ on private moment for William and Kate ignoring Kensington Palace request

By Dominic Ponsford

The Australian media has been accused of invading the privacy of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge photographing them on private property during their day off.

They were pictured in the garden of the governor general’s residence in Canberra and the snaps were shown on TV channels 9 and 10 and elsewhere.

The Times quotes Network 10 presenter Sarah Harrisa who said on air: “There they are, walking the grounds of Yarralumla, holding hands. You don’t see that. It’s a private moment that we are crashing in on.”

The pictures, which appear to have been taken covertly with a long lens, were also used by the News Corp-owned Herald Sun (website pictured above) and were credited to News Corp Australia.

Kensington Palace asked the media not to use images filmed on private property and the UK press heeded the request.

A Royal spokesman told The Times: “All we said was that it would be quite nice if they were given a bit of space on their day off.”

The UK Editors’ Code of Practice says: “It is unacceptable to photograph individuals in private places without their consent.”

Last week musician Paul Weller won a landmark UK privacy judgment when the High Court found that Mail Online should have pixelated the faces of his children when they were pictured on a family day out in California. Mail Online is appealing the judgment arguing that the pictures were compiant with US law.

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