Pippa Middleton receives unwanted attention from paparazzi
Pippa Middleton won widespread praise for her Alexander McQueen dress at the royal wedding, but it's what she wore before the wedding that has the paparazzi clamoring for more and the royal family asking for legal intervention.
Pippa Middleton made a splash at the royal wedding, but photographs of her in more revealing attire has the royal family seeking protection of the Middleton family's privacy.
Alastair Grant/AP
As Prince William and Kate Middleton honeymoon in a secluded spot, the paparazzi who stalk them are back in the spotlight.
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There's a brewing legal battle over publication of 5-year-old photographs of bridesmaid Pippa Middleton sunbathing topless, and anger about gruesome photographs of the late Princess Diana in the moments after her 1997 car crash appearing in a documentary about her death.
The publication of the Pippa pictures — showing the 27-year-old on a powerboat with older sister Kate (in a revealing bikini) and William (in a red and white bathing suit) — prompted the Middleton family to file a formal petition to Britain's independent Press Complaints Commission.
That complaint is seen as the first salvo in what is expected to be a conflict between the monarchy and the press as both sides try to establish boundaries in a new royal era defined by William and Middleton, now the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, and their determination to live a normal life.
The prince and his bride jetted off this week to a secret honeymoon spot that royal watchers believe was chosen specifically to keep them out of the lenses of the paparazzi.
"That and security would have been of primary importance," said Joe Little, managing editor of Majesty magazine. "We've known for a long time William would not stand for any nonsense regarding his new wife and her family."
Many Britons — mindful of how Princess Diana was tracked by the paparazzi in the moments leading to her fatal car crash — want the new royal couple, and the rest of the Middleton clan, to be able to move about without facing a constant barrage of flashing cameras.
"I think they should be left alone to be honest, after what happened to Lady Diana," said Marla Quinn, a 43 year-old receptionist from Surrey.
The nation has been astir with news that "death photos" of Diana moments after her high-speed crash in a Paris tunnel will be shown in a new film about her death, "Unlawful Killing," premiering at the Cannes Film Festival.
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