At the same time, Kate is refusing to become the fashion icon that some commentators would like, provoking Shane Watson in the Style magazine of The Sunday Times to wish that she appoint a full-time stylist lest her ill-chosen outfits should, as the English say, frighten the horses.
Ever since the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, the role of the paparazzi in following her children has been curtailed. Clarence House, which manages Prince William’s activities and St. James’s Palace on behalf of the Royal Family, has learned to use the grievance procedures of the Press Complaints Commission to bring errant picture editors to heel, even lobbying on behalf of the Middleton family for protection theoretically available to all U.K. citizens.
Recently, the Press Complaints Commission sent a notice to newspapers reminding them of the editors’ code of practice prohibiting harassment. There had been no official complaint, but contact had been made after Kate’s mother and sister were photographed shopping in London by agency photographers.
One journalist who has done well out of the Royal Wedding is Tom Bradby, ITV’s 43-year-old political editor, who won the exclusive 17-minute television interview with the royal couple that accompanied the formal announcement of their engagement. Bradby owed his selection to his stint as ITV’s royal correspondent from 2001 to 2005, during which time he bonded with Prince William and earned his trust. Bradby will be part of ITV’s coverage on the day of the wedding, giving his “insight” into the royal couple following the ceremony.
The wedding of Diana and Charles became the deus ex machina of the tabloid press, directly responsible for some of the fattest years of Murdoch’s Sun, which has been in a gentle decline ever since Diana’s death. It is doubtful that Kate Middleton will make anybody’s media fortune.
