Murdoch: Harry merits a break over nude photos
Source: AFP |
August 27, 2012, Monday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
MEDIA mogul Rupert Murdoch came to the defense of Britain's Prince Harry yesterday, urging critics to "give him a break" over photographs of him frolicking naked in a Las Vegas hotel suite.
Australian-born Murdoch posted a message of support on his Twitter page after The Sun, his top-selling British tabloid, printed images of 27-year-old Harry in defiance of orders from the royal family.
"Prince Harry. Give him a break," wrote Murdoch, 81. "He may be on the public payroll one way or another, but the public loves him, even to enjoy Las Vegas."
The images of the third in line to the throne, cavorting nude with a mystery woman during a game of "strip billiards," first surfaced last Wednesday on the US gossip website TMZ before going viral on the Internet.
The Sun initially respected the royal family's request that British newspapers not print the grainy camera-phone images, but broke ranks on Friday, claiming it did so in defense of press freedom.
The newspaper said it was "ludicrous" that the British press were not allowed to print images that had already been seen by hundreds of millions of people on the Internet.
Britain's media watchdog, the Press Complaints Commission, has had more than 850 complaints about The Sun's publication of the photos.
A YouGov poll published in The Sunday Times newspaper found that some 68 percent of Britons think Harry's behavior was acceptable for a young single man on a private holiday, with 22 percent saying it was not. Some 75 percent still had a positive view of Harry. But 61 percent thought The Sun was wrong to print the images.
Australian-born Murdoch posted a message of support on his Twitter page after The Sun, his top-selling British tabloid, printed images of 27-year-old Harry in defiance of orders from the royal family.
"Prince Harry. Give him a break," wrote Murdoch, 81. "He may be on the public payroll one way or another, but the public loves him, even to enjoy Las Vegas."
The images of the third in line to the throne, cavorting nude with a mystery woman during a game of "strip billiards," first surfaced last Wednesday on the US gossip website TMZ before going viral on the Internet.
The Sun initially respected the royal family's request that British newspapers not print the grainy camera-phone images, but broke ranks on Friday, claiming it did so in defense of press freedom.
The newspaper said it was "ludicrous" that the British press were not allowed to print images that had already been seen by hundreds of millions of people on the Internet.
Britain's media watchdog, the Press Complaints Commission, has had more than 850 complaints about The Sun's publication of the photos.
A YouGov poll published in The Sunday Times newspaper found that some 68 percent of Britons think Harry's behavior was acceptable for a young single man on a private holiday, with 22 percent saying it was not. Some 75 percent still had a positive view of Harry. But 61 percent thought The Sun was wrong to print the images.
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