When I read the Yahoo! News headline, I went through a string of emotions: denial, anger, disgust. Didn’t the paparazzi understand what they had done 15 years ago? Hadn’t they learned anything?
The topless pictures of Kate Middleton, published first by the French magazine Closer, angered me. I thought about what had happened to Princess Diana in that tunnel, speeding away from the paparazzi and her intoxicated driver losing control. I worried that Kate might suffer the same fate. I worried that this invasion of privacy would be the first of many to come.
This personal intrusion by a photographer, who took topless photos of Kate while she was on vacation, shows no respect. While Kate may be famous, she is not an object. She’s a person and although she chose to live her life in the spotlight by marrying Will, that does not give the photographer or anyone else the right to invade her personal life.
The photographer used a large telescopic lens to capture hundreds of shots from a road at least a mile away from the privately owned château where she was sunbathing. While Will and Kate won the civil suit forcing the French publication to no longer print the photos and turn over all copies, the damage to their private life and how often they choose to share it, was already done. Just this last weekend Kate was noticeably absent from a good friend’s wedding.
Before this incident, Will and Kate had led fairly open lives for royals. They were very public during the Olympics and during the cycling races displayed their affection openly, unusual for a royal couple. This invasion and obvious violation may have changed that.
Will and Kate’s case is not the only one. The paparazzi are getting more and more aggressive, especially on the streets of Hollywood. Halle Berry is moving overseas with her daughter in an attempt to get away from them, and Justin Bieber was reportedly chased down an LA freeway by a photographer following him in a car.
Put yourself in Kate Middleton’s shoes. No matter where you go, how you look, or what you’re doing people will always be taking pictures. What happened to Kate is essentially like having someone take pictures of you at a party or at school and then post the pictures without your permission or knowledge.
As a fan I like to see photos of my favorite celebrities, but I don’t want those photos to come at too great a cost. Celebrities have the same rights as normal citizens, and when they have to start changing the way they live because of the paparazzi, it’s a problem. Kate deserved to have a private moment while on vacation with her husband, just as we would expect to have private moments of our own.
If this type of behavior by paparazzi continues to escalate, legal action should be taken. Laws need to be strengthened, outlining parameters for when and where pictures of celebrities can and cannot be taken, and punishments need to be put in place for the paparazzi that fail to follow those laws.
