LONDON, Jan 31 — Britain’s Prince Harry yesterday lost a complaint against tabloid newspaper the Mail on Sunday about a story criticising wildlife photographs he posted on Instagram.
The prince alleged the newspaper had run the inaccurate headline “Drugged and tethered... what Harry didn’t tell you about those awe-inspiring wildlife photos” in an article about pictures he had posted online of himself and an elephant.
The weekly reported that another picture showed the animal was tethered with a rope.
Harry complained that the paper had made it seem he had deliberately cropped out the rope, and that he had posted the full picture in 2016.
He also said the website of the conservation organisation explained how it tranquilised and tethered the animals.
But the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO) watchdog rejected the complaint.
“The complainant (Harry) said the article was inaccurate as it reported that... he had intentionally misled the public to give the impression that he was a superior wildlife photographer who had captured the images in dangerous circumstances,” said IPSO.
“The Committee did not consider that it was significantly misleading to report that the photographs posted on the complainant’s Instagram account did not quite tell the full story and that the complainant had not explained the circumstances in which the photographs had been taken,” it added in a ruling.
The prince, 35, has launched multiple complaints against newspapers recently, ramping up hostilities with the media that he blames for his mother Diana, princess of Wales’ death and for unfair reporting on his wife Meghan.
The couple stunned the country earlier this month when they announced they were stepping back from frontline royal duties to spend more time living in North America. — AFP
