Britain’s press watchdog has rejected a complaint by Prince Harry over a tabloid newspaper article which said wild animals pictured in photos he posted on Instagram had been drugged and tied up. Harry, Queen Elizabeth’s grandson, posted the pictures he had taken of African wildlife on his Instagram account, which then had 5.6 million followers, to mark Earth Day and highlight conservation efforts.
But the Mail on Sunday newspaper reported last April that the photos had not revealed the full story. It said the animals involved had been tranquilised and that a picture of an elephant in Malawi had been edited so that it was not possible to see there was a rope around its hind legs. “Drugged and tethered ... what Harry didn’t tell you about those awe-inspiring wildlife photos,” read the headline.
The prince argued the report was inaccurate because it indicated he had intentionally misled the public to think that he was a superior wildlife photographer who had captured the pictures under dangerous circumstances, the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO) watchdog said. According to Harry his caption had made clear the animals were being relocated as part of conservation efforts and that the photo had only been edited to meet Instagram’s formatting requirements. However, the paper said Harry had not explained the circumstances of the photo to his followers and that he had not needed to crop the pictures in the way he had.
0 Comments