Harbottle & Lewis has been acting on behalf of the Royal Family over the publication of naked pictures of Prince Harry.
Harbottle & Lewis were contacted by the Royals after photographs emerged of the Prince inside a hotel room in Las Vegas. It is understood that the advice is being led by senior partner Gerrard Tyrrell, who heads the litigation and advertising department, media and information , privacy, advising high-profile clients on information protection and defamation.
Once Clarence House had confirmed the mobile phone pictures were legitimate, they were distributed across the internet.
Harbottle & Lewis then issued warning letters to the British press via the Press Complaints Commission (PCC) suggesting that publication of the photographs would be an invasion of Harry’s right to privacy under the PCC’s code of ethics.
The guidance suggested that the pictures did not pass the ‘public interest test’ and that as they were taken in a private hotel room, the prince had a reasonable expectation of privacy.
The firm has previously acted for The Queen, Prince Charles and Kate Middleton when the Royal Family had concerns about paparazzi pictures and the use of unauthorised or intrusive photographs.
Tyrrell was also instructed to respond to a claim in the Evening Standard that the Duke of Edinburgh was suffering from cancer.
Today, The Sun has published the pictures of Prince Harry on its front page, calling its editorial decision a “test of the freedom of the press”.
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