Lord Wakeham: William and Harry must not be "hounded"

Lord Wakeham Promises Protection for Princes

In a speech to the London Press Club, Lord Wakeham said the young princes will continue indefinitely to be protected from the prying eyes of the telephoto lenses and action would be taken to deal with the paparazzi.

Lord Wakeham said Princes William and Harry must be protected from Press "hounding" up to and beyond their 16th birthdays.

But he praised British newspapers for the way in which they had treated the princes since an agreement was struck with the Palace two years ago. That approach showed the strength of self-regulation in practice, he said.

Newspapers that hounded Diana have pledged to treat the princes with more respect

However, the Commission's chairman stressed that if the self-regulatory system was to meet public expectations, it must extend beyond the Royals to ordinary people.

Lord Wakeham is to visit the offices of British tabloid editors this week to discuss revisions to the newspaper and media industry's code of practice in relation to privacy.

Next week, he intends to hold a meeting with the PCC's code of practice committee, which is made up of representatives from the industry and chaired by Associated Newspapers' chairman and editor-in-chief, Sir David English, to discuss how best to revise the code.

His speech follows statements from some British newspapers that they will impose restrictions on the pictures they publish of the two princes.

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