British Royals Won't File Complaint About Publication of Naked Prince Harry Photos

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LONDON - The British Royals will not file a complaint about the publication of naked photos of Prince Harry by The Sun tabloid owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp.

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"Having considered the matter now for a number of weeks, we have decided not to pursue a complaint with the Press Complaints Commission on behalf of Prince Harry in respect of the photos of the Prince taken in Las Vegas," a press office for the Royals said Friday. "We have concluded that it would not be prudent to pursue the matter further."

But the statement also highlighted: "We remain of the opinion that a hotel room is a private space where its occupants would have a reasonable expectation of privacy. Prince Harry is currently focused entirely on his deployment in Afghanistan, so to pursue a complaint relating to his private life would not be appropriate at this time and would prove to be a distraction."

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The PCC, the U.K. press watchdog, had previously said that it would not investigate the publication of the naked photos by The Sun, even though it received around 3,800 complaints that the publication breached the royal's privacy.

It had previously signaled though that it could consider a probe if Prince Harry filed a complaint. "An investigation by the Commission, without consent, would have the potential itself to pose an intrusion," it had said recently.

Email: Georg.Szalai@thr.com
Twitter: @georgszalai