Prince William Was Filmed Shouting at a Photographer Who Interrupted a Cambridge Family Bike Ride
The photographer was in breach of Kensington Palace privacy policy.
An unauthorized video has been circulating online for the past few days, which shows Prince William shouting at a photographer and expressing his discontent at being followed while out on a private family outing.
The video was taken last year, according to The Telegraph, while the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and their three children, George, Charlotte and Louis, were out on a weekend bike ride near their home in Norfolk, Anmer Hall.
In the footage, Prince William can be seen understandably angry at being photographed and filmed with his children while not on an official outing, while Kate Middleton and their kids stand off camera. The Cambridges also seemed to believe the person with the camera had been following them around, even appearing close to Anmer Hall itself.
Now, Kensington Palace has branded the release of this video a "breach of privacy." It's a bit of an Inception situation, where William deplored the fact that he and his children were being photographed and filmed at the time, and it ended up being the video of him criticizing the cameraman that made its way onto social media sites (the original was uploaded to YouTube).
The Palace is currently asking for the removal of the video from every website on which it appears, and the cameraman was contacted by lawyers shortly after the altercation.
According to The Telegraph, Prince William has negotiated an understanding with the media that he will allow limited access to his children during official events, as well as releasing family photos on occasion, and that they should have their privacy at every other time. The kids are 8, 7 and 4 respectively, so they absolutely are entitled to this privacy—royal or not.
Beyond that, and as also noted by The Telegraph, Prince William saw how difficult it was for his late mother Princess Diana to maintain her own privacy during her time as a royal, which makes it a hot-button issue for him personally.
Celebrity news, beauty, fashion advice, and fascinating features, delivered straight to your inbox!
The duke's younger brother, Prince Harry, has also been filmed snapping at a journalist overstepping the mark in the past.
Iris Goldsztajn is a London-based journalist, editor and author. She is the morning editor at Marie Claire, and her work has appeared in the likes of British Vogue, InStyle, Cosmopolitan, Refinery29 and SELF. Iris writes about everything from celebrity news and relationship advice to the pitfalls of diet culture and the joys of exercise. She has many opinions on Harry Styles, and can typically be found eating her body weight in cheap chocolate.