Lately, there’s been much hype about Prince Harry’s alleged new relationship. Speculation, rumours and pure gossip have flooded the internet and newspapers for almost a week. Sadly, this has been the norm for the 32-year-old during his entire adult life. It isn’t even just Prince Harry, rumours and gossip affect all royals. From the Queen to The Prince of Wales, the Duchess of Cambridge and unfortunately even little Prince George and Princess Charlotte.
Royal Central has a strict code of conduct which clearly states we do not report on private matters of any member of any royal family. We are unique in this because we specifically focus on public events, engagements, and causes undertaken by the world’s monarchies. It isn’t that we aren’t aware of what rumours and gossip some tabloids publish. It’s impossible not be aware in the age of Twitter where you see retweets, mentions, and replies about matters that should remain private. I have Google Alerts set up for nearly 30 Royals, so I never miss any news published on the web about any royal – senior or minor. But my alerts are usually swamped with rumours of a divorce, ongoing rows between individual family members, and supposed ‘secret relationships’. Rarely do I find something that I am actually looking for.
Royal Central will never acknowledge gossip about a member of the Royal Family’s private life. Whether you respect them or not, royals are, at their core, people just like everyone else and should be respected as such. They shouldn’t be exposed to sell papers and generate more lies & silly speculation.
This leads me to ask: where do we, the media draw the line? For Royal Central, this line is very clearly defined. Our purpose is to showcase the good all royals do for our society and to bring attention to causes they care about. Of course, we also criticise when needed, but we never publish anything that isn’t true or is invasive.
Most media organisations treat royalty like your everyday celebrities, when in fact, they are anything but. They don’t flaunt their lifestyles, wealth, parties, fashion choices and holidays like the majority of celebrities do. Yes, you see them on helicopters and jets, in bespoke fashion, dripping in jewels, holidaying in private, secluded islands and living in big palaces, but they don’t make it a point to flaunt these things. Whether you like it or not, this is part of what it’s like being ‘royalty’. And this is what the tabloids choose to write about. They very rarely cover the engagements and tremendous charity work undertaken, but instead decide to focus on The Duchess of Cambridge’s £4,000 dress or Prince Harry’s relationships.
Whether the tabloids are aware or not, or whether they even care, they greatly influence the public’s view of royals by using paparazzi to sneak about and try to snag that all-important money shot. One that was not approved or sanctioned. So most people browse these sites, look at these illegal photos and think how cute, how sweet the little Prince and Princess are without perhaps knowing how they were obtained. It will not be long before a newspaper manages to get the big money shot currently in the news – a picture of Prince Harry and his new alleged girlfriend together!
British media are in agreement with Kensington Palace that they will not publish unsolicited pictures of George and Charlotte in any of their publications. In return, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge regularly release official photos of their children to the media. Mostly taken by Catherine herself, these pictures are carefully regulated and controlled.
The Duchess of Cambridge has sued international publications for obtaining pictures of herself and her children without permission. The photos taken of Prince George and Princess Charlotte during the latest tour of Canada were allowed like those taken at the garden party. But, to protect her children, Catherine is very outspoken and unafraid of taking legal action when necessary.
This shouldn’t have to happen. A mother shouldn’t have to involve lawyers to keep images of her children out of the public eye. What if these were pictures of your children? Unless you are a stage parent, wanting your kids to be famous, wouldn’t this make you want to speak up for them? Especially because they couldn’t speak for themselves? A tabloid shouldn’t be so ruthless, so immoral to pay money to some sleazy ‘journalist’ to slither about wanting to get a picture of two, sweet innocent children.
This needs to end. But it never will in my opinion.
On US television and online, tabloids sensationalise the royals. I hate even to write it, but they put them up there with the Kardashians, who, again, in my opinion, have no class and contribute nothing of worth to our society other than selling tabloids and keeping paparazzi in their jobs. You don’t read anything about them attending a public charity fundraiser or supporting a new charity. Instead, you would see them attending one fashion show or another or on one luxury vacation. There is no comparison between them and any royals. But the American media doesn’t feel their work matters.
Before writing for Royal Central, I had no clue about all the hard work the royals do. I quickly learned the importance of having royalty. I just wish the United States had such wonderful role models for young people to look up to. I wish these tawdry tabloids would take a step back and be honest about the work royals do. To showcase their good deeds whether than contriving or exposing some controversy all for the sake of drudging up more gossip.
Why should we care about who Prince Harry is dating? And four years ago, why draw attention to his actions in Las Vegas? He’s a young man who has the right to have fun. If he weren’t royalty, no one would care.
So, what can you do to tone down the gossip, if that’s something you even wish to do? For starters, share our posts! It might sound like cynical self-promotion but every picture we Royal Central uses is authorised, and we will never publish gossip/rumours. If the alleged relationship turns out to be true (which it probably is) and either Harry or Kensington Palace confirm it, we will be the first to publish the story. Until then, ignore those articles that seek to merely sensationalise the royals. Let people know that there’s more to royalty than the luxury and wealth they see online and on television and talk about their charitable efforts and work they do on behalf of others!
What do you think? Am I too critical of the media? Should I back off and not be so outspoken tabloids that publish complete rubbish? Or, do you agree with me and think the royals should have the right to a private life? Comment below to let us know:
No, I don’t think it is the media’s business, but they think it is their business, so they see nothing wrong in horning in on any public figures’ private lives.
The royal’s private life is just that private. The media need to stop with all the speculation!
How can I get those google alerts?
Harry’s mother, Princess Diana was killed because of the harrassement of the media.. So think again, should the media be causing havoc in a public person’s limited private life ???
The media is making up 99% of this trash. They are desperate for attention & readers.
I loved your article and I, as well others love to hear about charitable work they do. Ms. Markle, in my opinion was dripping with innuendo that sparked this entire debacle. I would love to share your article with Prince Harry’s fan base on Tumblr, these are positive people that highlight the royals for their charitable works. Sure every girl has a fantasy about becoming a princess, it’s just that, a fantasy
The media are totally out of control in regard to Royals AND celebrities. I don’t understand this weird obsession with wanting to know the private details of others’ lives. Appreciate the Royals for what they do and appreciate celebrities i.e. entertainers and sports figures for the work they do and the entertainment they provide and keep your noses out of their personal business.