Prince William has become embroiled in a new privacy row after a video of him shouting angrily at a paparazzi photographer who was filming his family while on a bike ride went viral Monday.
In the footage, William, is seen remonstrating with the man about his behavior while his wife Kate Middleton, who remains out of shot, does the same.
The video, which Prince William’s office denounced as an invasion of privacy although it was apparently filmed on a public road near the rural royal retreat of Sandringham House, vividly illustrates the pressures the royals face from press intrusion. Although the British press does not buy invasive pictures of the royals and their children, such images are regularly published by non-British websites.
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William and Harry have both previously accused aggressive photographers chasing their mother in Paris for causing her death.
The footage was posted to the YouTube account of Terry Harris whose online bio says he is a drone operator and photographer. He appears to hold official accreditation as a news gatherer.
In a lengthy introduction to the extraordinary footage, captions allege it was shot in 2021, and says it was filmed shortly after William and his family were accused of breaking British lockdown rules in force at the time by gathering in a group of more than six with Prince Edward’s family, classed as another household.
The implication is that the photographer was intent on catching the family engaged in similar behavior again.
The introduction also seeks to infer a public service element with another caption saying, “Shockingly, between when the photo of their bike ride was taken and the police arriving, there was a gap of almost 30 minutes. Was the future king and his family unprotected?”
The edited video began disappearing from search results Monday evening, as Kensington Palace appeared to be winning a battle to get it taken down.
The clip appears to have been uploaded last week and had been viewed 20,000 times by Monday evening.
