Pearle's of Wisdom: Prince William threatens UK press: If you hound Kate “there will be hell to pay”

re-posted from Cele|bitchy by Kaiser

Duchess Kate is doing better! A rep for William and Kate told the press last night: “The Duchess of Cambridge is continuing to feel better,. She and the Duke are immensely grateful for the good wishes they have received. She will remain in hospital at present and will continue to be treated for hyperemesis gravidarum.”So the anti-nausea medication is working and hopefully she’s not vom-ing all over the place right now. As for the other matters… I keep forgetting to wildly and irresponsibly speculate on all of the Duchess Kate Bump Drama, so let’s do that before we get into the Radar story which I want to discuss. Let’s do some bullet points:
*TWINSIES! There are rumors that Kate is so sick with hyperemesis gravidarum because she’s carrying multiple babies. Apparently, the condition occurs more often when a woman is pregnant with multiples, but it also happens often enough with single births too, so the “twins!” rumor is just that, a rumor. It’s possible that Kate and William don’t even know if they’re expecting twins, right? It’s still really early.
*GODPARENTS. Everyone says Pippa as godmother and Prince Harry as godfather. I think those are some excellent bets, but the royal family might demand that Will and Kate choose only royalty, in which case I think Zara Phillips might be the back-up choice for godmother.
*GINGER HEIR? I would love it so, so much if Kate gave birth to a ginger baby. We would have to examine the timelines very closely and there would elaborate conspiracy theories involving Prince Harry flying home for one night to make sweet, torrid love to his sister-in-law. I’m kind of glad that Harry was in Afghanistan during the conception, though. The speculation would have been fun, but I’m glad Kate kept her eye on the (royal) ball. So… the heir will probably not be a ginger. But here’s hoping!
*GIRL BABY NAMES. I feel like we’ve been discussing baby names for two years, right? I don’t think it’s a guarantee that we’ll have a “Princess Diana” if Kate has a girl, but Diana could definitely be chosen as one of the middle names. You never know with William – I think it might be kind of morbid for him to use “Diana” as a daughter’s first name, but I also thought it was kind of morbid for him to give Kate his mother’s engagement ring too. Diana is definitely on the table then, as is “Elizabeth” (for the Queen) and “Carole” (for Kate’s mum). I’m also really feeling “Charlotte” for some reason – it’s a good name in general, there’s not a long royal family history with the name, and it references William’s father, Charles. Something like Princess Charlotte Elizabeth Diana of Wales?
*BOY BABY NAMES. Less eventful, for sure. Royal men have long-ass names, and they’re often a litany of male royal ancestors. Expect to see: Phillip, Charles, Henry, George and maybe even Albert and definitely Michael (for Kate’s dad). I’d like to see a boy’s name that we haven’t heard in a while for the first name. Like… I’m really feeling “James”. And that’s Kate’s brother’s name too. Prince James Phillip Charles Michael of Wales.
*WILL IT BE AN RAF BABY? No. This is just wild speculation on my part, but I really do think William is going to leave the RAF at the end of the year. Even though the royal talking points are that “William is a dedicated public servant and military man,” his vacation-happy actions speak louder than words. He doesn’t have time to serve in the RAF anymore. He and Kate will be living full-time in London by January, I think.
Okay, now we can get to this Radar story. According to Radar’s “sources,” William is going to start threatening the press directly if they dare to cross the line in covering Kate’s pregnancy:

Prince William has vowed to move Heaven and Earth to shield his expectant wife and their unborn baby from the media furor created by the long awaited news of her pregnancy, RadarOnline.com is exclusively reporting.
William is “excited and happy beyond belief” about the pregnancy but determined not to allow press intrusion to cause any disruption or possible harm to the well being of Kate and their first born child, according to a well placed Brit source, who goes on to say thatWilliam has called in the big guns to ensure he acheive his aims.
“William has always had a distrust, bordering on outright loathing, for the press,” the source tells RadarOnline.com. “It all stems from his childhood — watching the way his mother was built up and then torn down by the media and ultimately, he strongly believes to this day, hounded to her death by over-zealous paparazzi. He has vowed to do everything in his power to protect Kate from the media frenzy surrounding her pregnancy and Heaven help anyone who crosses the line. At William’s behest the Queen instructed Palace bigwigs to individually call all of the chiefs at the British newspapers immediately following the pregnancy announcement and warn them, in no uncertain terms, that if any lines are crossed, any intrusive paparazzi shots are purchased and published, or if Kate feels hounded in anyway there will be hell to pay.”
“William was deeply hurt and angered by the topless photo scandal Kate was forced to endure over the summer, and has made it crystal clear that, make no mistake, he will not allow his wife to be subjected to such blatant intrusion and humiliation ever again.”
“William is well aware that he leads a public life,” the source says. “And he is more than willing and accepting to dedicate his life to the British people and lead a life of public service and duty. However, as much as William accepts his responsibilities he still firmly asserts that he and his wife also have the right to demand a degree of privacy. They can not be expected to live in a fishbowl 24-7 and William is determined to make sure both he and Kate are afforded time off from public life and media scrutiny to live their lives together with at least a sprinkling of normalcy — this has just become even more of an ingrained belief since learning he is to become a father.”

[From Radar]
Protective father-to-be or a petty, petulant control-freak who doesn’t want his lifestyle to be questioned by anyone? Can it be both? Because I think it’s both. I think William is genuinely concerned, and he has good reason to be. But I think threatening newspaper editors is the wrong way to go, as is the constant placement of blame on the press for his mother’s death. It feels like William is going to be going out of his way to antagonize people rather than learning how to deal with his public (and publicly-funded) role in a mature, thoughtful and respectful way.