Posted on 01/07/2002 6:14:32 PM PST by Oxylus
Hunting Prince swears at pressman
BY SIMON DE BRUXELLES
PRINCE WILLIAM'S relations with the media are under scrutiny this morning after he was accused of swearing at a press photographer and forcing him to jump into a ditch at the Beaufort hunt.
Clive Postlethwaite, 51, claims that he was forced to drop his camera and leap backwards yesterday to avoid being trampled by the Prince's horse in a lane near the Prince of Wales's Highgrove estate in Gloucestershire.
Last night Colleen Harris, the Prince of Wales's press spokeswoman, made light of the incident and said that she did not think the Prince would go to the Press Complaints Commission. She said: 'Hunting is a fast moving sport and the photographer may have been in the way. I don't think it would have been deliberate.'
Prince William had joined the Prince of Wales, the Princess Royal and Prince Harry for the meeting of the Duke of Beaufort's Foxhounds. Mr Postlethwaite, a freelance photographer, said that he was waiting on a corner near a farm waiting for the hunt to return. He claimed the Prince shouted, 'F p off, Postlethwaite!' as he rode at him.
'Charles went past first, then William saw me and just went mad. He could see me clearly and from a long way off and I did nothing to startle him. He sped up towards me with his eyes wide and teeth showing. He looked so angry, I couldn't believe it. He screamed at me and the horse was so close I had little choice but to drop my camera equipment and jump backwards into the hedge and ditch.
'I was shaken and just about managed to shout out, 'Steady on Wills'. William quickly went into the farm with no regard for the state I was in. I seriously believe I could have been killed.'
Translation: Mr. Postlethwaite, a paparazzi jackal, who constantly pesters the royals by sticking his camera in their faces and selling the most embarrassing photos....
If I were a young guy on a horse who's been pestered my entire life by people such as Mr. Postlethwaite, I might do the same thing.
Good on ya, Wills.
'waaah, waaah, they're shooting at me and dropping bombs so close. i think i may get killed'!
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