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‘You’re disgusting!’: Prince William shouts at photographer who ‘stalked’ his children

The Duke has previously been highly critical of social media firms - WPA Pool/Getty Images
The Duke has previously been highly critical of social media firms - WPA Pool/Getty Images

The Royal family has become embroiled in a row with YouTube after a video was published showing the Duke of Cambridge shouting at a photographer.

The video, which was viewed more than 15,000 times on Monday, shows the Duke arguing with a photographer after he was filmed on a bike ride with his family near Sandringham, Norfolk.

The Duke, 40, is seen shouting at a photographer, who he claims “stalked” his young family but Kensington Palace has responded by arguing it was a breach of the family’s privacy. The visibly upset Duke is captured telling the photographer: “I thought you guys had learnt by now.”

The short video was uploaded on Monday, more than a year after the incident occurred.

Royal privacy

It underlines the significant challenges facing the Royal family in the online era, where rules followed by the traditional media do not apply.

Kensington Palace says the film is a breach of privacy, with the Duke on a private bike ride with his wife and three children, who were present but blurred out in the video.

It is understood staff are seeking the removal of the video. On Monday, the three-minute-long video was still available on YouTube, with a version circulating on TikTok as well.

The traditional British print media does not publish photographs or videos of the Royal family in private circumstances, being particularly sensitive to images of Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis.

The Duke, who watched his mother’s experience with the paparazzi as a schoolboy, has spent years finessing an arrangement in which he authorises a small number of photographs of the children each year in recognition of their future public roles, while insisting on their total privacy the rest of the time.

The Cambridges authorise a small number of photos of their children each year - Kensington Palace/PA
The Cambridges authorise a small number of photos of their children each year - Kensington Palace/PA

But images of the children are regularly posted on social media, and sold to European publications working under different laws and press watchdogs.

The Duke has previously been highly critical of social media firms and their approach to fake news, privacy issues and cyber-bullying, accusing them of failing to take the issues seriously.

Watch: Who is Princess Diana?

‘You’re outrageous’

The latest video was filmed in January 2021 near the Cambridges’ Anmer Hall home where the Duke, Duchess and their three children were riding their bikes along a country lane.

It shows the Duke confronting a photographer who claimed to have been in the area on public roads only looking for the Saturday Sandringham shoot.

“You came out looking for us,” the Duke insisted. “How dare you behave like you’ve done with my children? How dare you?

“You are stalking around here looking for us and our children. I’m out for a quiet bike ride with my children on a Saturday. You won’t even give me your name.

“You’re outrageous, you’re disgusting, you really are. How dare you behave like that?”

The Duchess can be heard off-camera telling him: “It’s the weekend with our children. You drove past us outside our house, I saw you.”

The video was filmed near to the Cambridges’ Anmer home in Norfolk - REX Shutterstock
The video was filmed near to the Cambridges’ Anmer home in Norfolk - REX Shutterstock

The photographer denies being near the house, saying he stuck to public roads and did not conceal himself once he realised the family were cycling towards him.

The Duke, whose children were upset, was seen to call his security on the phone, refusing to allow the photographer to walk away before the police arrived to take his details.

“Thanks for ruining our day,” he said. “I thought you guys had learned by now.”

Kensington Palace asks for video removal

It is understood that Kensington Palace has asked for it to be removed from the platforms, in line with their usual policy about privacy.

Staff have previously been successful in appealing for unauthorised photographs of the children to be taken down.

The Duke has previously warned of the dangers of social media networks and what he saw as the disinclination of their executives to deal with a range of problems which affected users.

“I am very concerned though that on every challenge they face – fake news, extremism, polarisation, hate speech, trolling, mental health, privacy, and bullying – our tech leaders seem to be on the back foot,” he said in 2018.

“Their self-image is so grounded in their positive power for good that they seem unable to engage in constructive discussion about the social problems that they are creating.”

A spokesman for YouTube has not yet commented.