Never has the world of the media been quite so weird as today. Some of the juiciest photos of Prince Harry getting up to mischief are plastered all over the internet and yet up until today not one British newspaper could publish due the ongoing legal battle over the laws of privacy in this country. But who could resist the temptation?
The inevitable happened and The Sun broke ranks saying they did it as a matter of public interest as it brought into question the security surrounding the third in line to the throne. As everyone knows the Levinson inquiry hangs heavy over all news editors at the moment and I’m sure many a media legal team have burnt the midnight oil discussing the dilemma of whether to publish and be damned. But the most read newspaper in the UK decided it was worth the risk and now they are getting the best bit of publicity in a long time.
So it is damage limitation time at the Palace. As usual the Palace only ever issues a short statement acknowledging or refuting the claim. But the PR team must be hopping mad, having had such a good run with the Jubilee and the Olympics showing off the royals to the world. In particular Harry whose image they have worked hard on to present as a young man, mindful of his royal duties and a hardworking chap with a promising army career ahead of him. All those months of him being filmed working with charity groups and looking jolly smart in his army uniform - all forgotten in an instant.
So, as you already know, reputation management is everything. It can be won and lost in a second and unfortunately for Harry what happened in Vegas certainly didn’t stay in Vegas!
Once this story has eventually died down the Levinson inquiry will be publishing its findings, but what would we prefer? Over regulation so that the rest of the world gets to see the story before us or self regulation by an industry who cannot resist running a controversial story if they know it’s going to sell newspapers. I’m sure many journalists will be quietly applauding The Sun today for following the courage of its convictions, but what do you think? We would love to hear your thoughts.