William And Kate Plant Hedges To Protect Their Children’s Privacy
Around 300 meters of hedging has been planted along the border of one of Kensington Palace’s gardens, by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge as a way of shielding their children from the prying eyes of the media.
The area is mostly used as a coming and going point for royal travelling by helicopter, with Prince William and Kate often being seen taking off from the gardens in the maroon royal helicopter.
Now with three children, all of which are growing up fast, the Duke and Duchess have made it their priority to try and maintain the privacy of their family, and they think that this new hedge will hopefully help them achieve this.
The laurel hedge at the moment is around one meter tall, but with time it is expected to grow large enough to block the back garden from the view of tourists and photographers hoping to catch a glimpse of the royals arriving and departing.
The hedge is made up of 600 individual trees, and the overall cost of this, delivery and labour included, came just over $27,000, and it is expected to grow tall and thick enough for it to block the entire garden from public view.
“As part of the broader management of the Estate, the physical surroundings of Royal Residences are under constant review,” a Palace spokesperson told MailOnline.
“From time to time, adjustments are made to the landscaping and gardens, including hedging.”
This isn’t the only thing that William and Kate have done to get more privacy, as they want to provide their children with the most normal childhood the future kings and queens of England can get.
Other things the royal couple have placed are restrictions on how many photographers can attend public engagements when their children will be present, as well as placing restrictions on how many photos of their children can be published.
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Back in 2016, they had a little run-in with the media, with the Duchess issuing a formal complaint to the Independent Press Standards Organization (Ipso) about magazines publishing photographs of a young Prince George, arguing the photos are breaching her family’s right to privacy.
The photographers managed to get some shots of Prince George sitting on a police motorbike with Kate nearby on the palace grounds; in the end, Ipso agreed with Kate that she “had a reasonable expectation of privacy” when the photos were taken. They subsequently upheld her complaints, stating that: “They were engaged in a private activity, the images had been taken while they were on private, protected land, where commercial photography is prohibited, and no permission for the images to be taken or published had been sought or obtained.”
After Princess Charlotte’s birth, the couple once again wanted to ensure their privacy when they retreated to Anmer Hall in Norfolk, having the police issue letters to media and the community, in which they ask them to respect the family’s privacy.
“There have in the past been a number of intrusions into the privacy of the Royal Family,” the letter explained.
Special emphasis was put on “professional photographers using long-distance lenses” to photograph royals, and warned photographers against attempting to do the same to the young family.
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, along with their children, often relocate to Anmer Hall during school breaks, where they can enjoy at least a bit more privacy when compared to the bustling with royals and media London.