Publishing Photos of the Royal Jewels

Should the forbidden photos of Kate Middleton on vacation in the south of France be attracting such a lot of attention?

I think so, and here's why: they're symbols of democracy.

The Duchess of Cambridge is being supported by the government of England, and is supposed to advance England with the best appearance possible. That is the most public aspect of her job. She's doing an excellent job now in Asia where pictures of her abound in various beautiful dresses, even photos of her royal toes.

Dignified? I don't think so. But ILLEGAL? Sadly for them, I don't think so....The British royal family is angry, and yet what right does it have to be, really?

Indignant they might be. We don't like it when unflattering photos of us appear anywhere. Even if they're bad pictures and they don't put us in the best light, we don't have any right to them. If they were taken on public property, how can the photos be called an invasion of privacy?

Kate has thousands of flattering pictures of her, and yet she's fixated on these photos, now angrily enough to increase international attention and start a lawsuit, it's rumored. And everyone wants to see exactly the photos she wants banned.

The royal family has successfully muzzled the British press, but they have to learn they can't do the same under international law. Yet that's what being a monarchy is all about, having power over one's own sphere, to set precedents. But England is a little country, not completely a democracy even if it likes to think it is, and this photo controversy is indisputable proof of that.

Of course, the royal family wants to put its weight behind banning the photos, as if the pictures and the reality didn't exist, just as they wanted to do with photos of other members of the royal family. But they were too late.

The larger question is why did photos of the royal couple dressed like this get taken at all? The photos came out weeks after they were taken, so were being hoarded secretly until published.

Certainly, the royal couple and family can do what they want. They can consciously model in the nude if they want. What they can't do? They shouldn't turn around and then whine.

If that's how they're going to dress in public and then complain, maybe they need a good education in international justice.