Prince William took a lot of effort to protect the privacy of Kate Middleton during the early years of their relationship. Just like Prince Harry, William also used "extreme measures" as the press hounded on his then-girlfriend for photos.
A new documentary titled The Tabloids and the Royals expounded on the things Prince William did when paparazzi followed Kate everywhere. Kelvin MacKenzie, the former editor of The Sun, shared that Prince William invoked a European Human Rights law to send a message to the press.
MacKenzie said that Prince William had scars from his mother's experiences with the tabloid media that seeing the press' treatment of Kate at that time affected him. He wanted to protect her badly so he invoked the EU law on behalf of his girlfriend.
Royal biographer Marcia Moody wrote in the Kate: A Biography that William became furious when Kate's photos aboard a bus in London were splashed all over the tabloids. He was even more furious to learn that photographers followed Kate all day when she was on her way to a job interview. So, upon his instructions, Prince William's lawyers wrote a letter to newspaper editors in the U.K. telling them that "Kate's private life remains private."
Royal commentator Camilla Tominey also said that the Duke of Cambridge devised a "very firm strategy" to slowly immerse Kate in the royal spotlight and prevent her from going through the same experiences as Princess Diana. Tominey recalled that, in the early days of William and Kate's romance, the two slowly got on with their life in public together.
They weren't thrusted and thrown into the limelight right away. Kate's involvement in the royal family's public duties were steadily increased over time with Prince William by her side.
In contrast, Prince Harry also addressed the press during the early months of his relationship with Meghan Markle. But, instead of going through his lawyers, Harry made an unprecedented move and issued a public statement asking to respect Meghan's privacy.
Like William, Harry was also traumatized by Princess Diana's death and blamed the paparazzi for it. Fearing that he would lose Meghan as well, the Duke of Sussex fought back and launched multiple lawsuits against media outlets and photographers.
His beef with the British tabloid media, however, became more problematic even as the couple decided to step back from the royal family and leave the U.K. The paparazzi still followed them in Los Angeles and even attempted to fly drones over their house for that elusive photo of their baby, Archie.
However, Harry and Meghan are navigating this scrutiny and fight with the press on their own as non-working royal family members. William and Kate, on the other hand, have the protection of the Palace.
