With the catchy headline "Heir it is," The British tabloid, The Sun owned by Rupert Murdoch's empire was the first British newspaper to print naked photos of Prince Harry in Vegas.
The royal family banned British media from publishing the photos but The Sun decide to defy them by printing a shot of Harry naked, front page and center. Harry's wild party antics in Vegas involved some impromptu strip poker documented on camera that unfortunately for him has surfaced all over the world wide web and into to eyes of basically any human who has access to the internet.
Newspapers around the world have already published images of the Prince naked, but with a request from lawyers acting for the royal family, they asked British press to not print any photos of Harry and to respect his privacy.
The Sun decided that in the name of freedom of the press, that they would print a photo of Harry in a Vegas hotel room stark naked with his hand covering his genitals, while an unnamed, naked lady friend hides behind his back.
According to Reuters, David Dinsmore, managing editor of The Sun said, "This is about the ludicrous situation where a picture can be seen by hundreds of millions of people around the world on the Internet but can't be seen in the nation's favorite paper."
The BBC and Sky TV's website have covered Harry's antics and showed the Sun's front page but with the phto blacked out and the Times website, pixilated the photo.
A former editor of The Sun, Kelvin MacKenzie said that Rupert Murdoch would have had to have approved posting the photo, himself. Murdoch gained notoriety from shutting down the popular News of the World because of allegations that his staff had illegally obtained voicemails of politicians, crime victims and celebrities. Mackenzie said to the BBC, "A picture like that can't have been published without Rupert Murdoch getting involved."
The Sun has argued that there is a public interest in publishing the photos because it raises questions about the Prince's safety while others argue that it was just a money-making decision for the paper.
T he Sun added on it's website, "The Royal Family's lawyers claim there is no public interest in The Sun running the photos. This is a favourite mantra of those who wish to muzzle the world's most vibrant newspapers, here in Britain - stuffily declaring that a story has "no public interest", as though it were an unassailable fact.
But there is a clear public interest in publishing the Harry pictures, in order for the debate around them to be fully informed. The photos have potential implications for the Prince's image representing Britain around the world.
There are questions over his security during the Las Vegas holiday. Questions as to whether his position in the Army might be affected."
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
