Irish Evening Herald prints naked Prince Harry pics while UK newspaper editors cry-off as spectre of Lord Leveson looms large
Naked pictures of Prince Harry, currently in circulation across US media, have been printed by the Irish Evening Herald, but not by any British media, as a complaint is made to the Press Complaints Commission by St James’ Palace.
Pictures of Prince Harry naked, while on holiday in Las Vegas, have been distributed around US media and the internet this week, which has led the Palace contacting the PCC when it heard that newspapers in the UK were considering doing the same.
The Palace has also confirmed that it is the Prince in the photographs and explained that it made the complaint as it believed his privacy was being infringed upon.
As a result, no British newspapers have chosen to run the freely available pictures, although The Sun has chosen to run mock-up images instead.
Former News of the World executive editor Neil Wallis has told Sky News that the decision by the UK press not to run the pictures is entirely down to the fear of editors following the Leveson Inquiry into media ethics.
"If these pictures had landed on my desk two years ago I'd have run them. If they'd landed on my desk, and I was still a newspaper editor or senior executive now, I don't think I would, I don't think I’d have had the nerve. The change is simple, it's the Leveson Inquiry,” said Wallis.
"Newspaper editors, newspaper executives are terrified of controversy now. If they get a controversial story that causes a furore an editor could lose his job, advertisers could be panicked into not advertising in their newspapers, because the mood in the newspaper industry is now so febrile,” he added.