Why Kate and William’s PR team may need to use the law to protect them, according to Phil Hall

One of the most difficult jobs in PR at present will be the person managing the profile of Prince William and his new bride Kate Middleton. I am not sure who is responsible; I believe it is being handled by Paddy Harveson at Clarence House.

It is difficult to balance the need to get the royal couple out there, against the insatiable appetite of the paparazzi to get photographs of their private moments.

One romantic picture from the honeymoon would be worth £250,000 on today’s market. I suspect the picture of Kate shopping at Waitrose a few weeks ago and only days after the wedding, would have made one lucky snapper £75,000.

PROs are reluctant to use the law because of the damage it can do to long-term relationships. Even if you do decide that a super injunction is the only option for a client, you will have an enemy of that newspaper for life.

But when I was editing I felt I was in an impossible position. If we got great pictures of Princess Diana land on our desks, the temptation to publish those pictures was too great. Only afterwards did it often emerge that she was being chased by a pack of snappers in an unreasonable way. Editors should show restraint, but who will be bold enough not to publish the picture against rivals who will, thus seeing his paper’s circulation drop and his job be threatened?

The royal couple’s PR needs to be more proactive with the law. There is a law against harassment and if a pack of photographers chase their quarry down the street, have the photographers arrested. If a persistent photographer invades private property, likewise. But there does need to be balance by giving photo opportunities too.

Friendly agreements between the royals and the newspapers usually end in tears, so it is my view that excesses need to be stamped on because it will have a salutary effect, particularly with foreign photographers who are not bound by such organisations as the Press Complaints Commission and ride roughshod over any royal/media understandings.

Phil Hall was editor of the News of the World and is chairman of PHA Media. Phil writes a regular column for PRmoment.com