Kensington Palace Condemns Paparazzi Harassment Of Prince George

Duke and Duchess of Cambridge release statement

The Royal Family has released a statement detailing the extreme lengths paparazzi go to to take pictures of Prince George.

According to the statement, written by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s Communications Secretary Jason Knauf, photographers have increased their aggressive attempts to capture images of the two-year-old even using other children to lure the young prince into view in playgrounds.

“Paparazzi photographers are going to increasingly extreme lengths to observe and monitor Prince George's movements and covertly capture images of him to sell to the handful of international media titles still willing to pay for them,” reads the statement, which has been sent out to major media publications in the UK and around the world.

“Prince George is their number one target.” 

 “One recent incident – just last week – was disturbing, but not at all uncommon. A photographer rented a car and parked in a discreet location outside a children's play area.

“Already concealed by darkened windows, he took the added step of hanging sheets inside the vehicle and created a hide stocked with food and drinks to get him through a full day of surveillance, waiting in hope to capture images of Prince George. Police discovered him lying down in the boot of the vehicle attempting to shoot photos with a long lens through a small gap in his hide.”

As well as this most recent incident, Knauf lists the shocking levels of harassment Prince George and his family are subject to:

• On multiple occasions used long range lenses to capture images of The Duchess playing with Prince George in a number of private parks

• Monitored the movements of Prince George and his nanny around London parks and monitored the movements of other household staff

• Pursued cars leaving family homes

• Used other children to draw Prince George into view around playgrounds 

• Been found hiding on private property in fields and woodland locations around The Duke and Duchess's home in Norfolk

• Obscured themselves in sand dunes on a rural beach to take photos of Prince George playing with his grandmother 

• Placed locations near the Middleton family home in Berkshire under steady surveillance

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge explicitly state that they do not want George and his sister Princess Charlotte to "grow up exclusively behind palace gates and in walled gardens."

Kate and William are imploring worldwide media publications not to buy these ill-gotten images, as “readers deserve to understand the tactics deployed to obtain these pictures”. 

While most major UK media outlets do not publish paparazzi shots of the royal family, pictures of Prince George and Kate Middleton at Bucklebury Farm near the Middleton’s home in Berkshire have been previously published by some international titles.