Prince William being left out of photos of Prince Harry with Sean “Diddy” Combs in the aftermath of Department of Homeland Security raids on the rapper’s properties has sparked a backlash against the media.
Harry was named in a court filing from music producer Rodney Jones’ $30-million lawsuit against Combs. There is no suggestion the Duke of Sussex knew about, condoned or was in any way implicated in allegations of sex trafficking against Combs.
Articles about the saga used images of Harry with Combs and Kanye West from a concert marking what would have been Princess Diana’s 46th birthday in June, 2007, where William was also present.
Many outlets, however, opted not to use the images that included William. This decision may in part have been simply out of recognition that the Prince of Wales was not mentioned in the court filing, unlike his younger brother. Neither is accused of wrongdoing.
The filing, seen by Newsweek, read: “Mr. Combs was known for throwing the ‘best’ parties. Affiliation with, and or sponsorship of Mr. Combs sex-trafficking parties garnered legitimacy and access to celebrities such as famous athletes, political figures, artists, musicians, and international dignitaries like British Royal Prince Harry.” This was later altered in a second amended complaint to remove the reference to “sex-trafficking parties.”
Williams’s omission in some photos sparked fury among Harry and Meghan Markle’s online supporters who felt the “heir” (William) was being protected by the British media at the expense of the “spare.”
Richard Bacon, a U.K. TV presenter, posted an image of the front page of The Sun on X, formerly Twitter, and wrote: “You’ve cut Prince William out of that picture. Harry is literally named in the suit as ‘an example’ of some Diddy has met. He met Prince William at the same event.
“All that courtesy you just showed Kate. Why are you doing this? It doesn’t do you any favours.”
It would appear that William was in fact not actually cut or cropped by the news outlets who ran stories on March 26 as a number of pictures appear on the Getty Images picture library include some that did not have William in them.
However, it would have been possible to publish a picture containing William and some editors clearly chose the images in which he was not pictured.
One social media user wrote: “Why are various news outlets cropping out Prince William from photos relating to this party they both attended?
“Furthermore, Prince Harry is mentioned ad [sic] an example of people P Diddy has associated with. That’s it, no smoking gun, just as an example.”
It should be noted that Harry’s inclusion in media coverage was not simply a product of the fact he has been photographed with Combs, but instead came about due to the decision by lawyers for Jones to name him.
It is not clear why they chose to reference Harry specifically and not William. The Daily Telegraph reported that Harry had only met Combs once, and had not attended any of his parties.
Another Harry and Meghan supporter wrote: “The irony is that the reason why Harry’s name was mentioned was to point out the high-profile nature of people Puff (Combs) got to meet.
“The fact that he was named above Prince William is because, despite the royal heirachy [sic], people have more interest and consider Harry more highly.”
Aaron Dyer, Combs’ attorney, said in a statement released to Newsweek: “Yesterday (March 25), there was a gross overuse of military-level force as search warrants were executed at Mr. Combs’ residences.
“There is no excuse for the excessive show of force and hostility exhibited by authorities or the way his children and employees were treated.
“Mr. Combs was never detained, but spoke to and cooperated with authorities. Despite media speculation, neither Mr. Combs nor any of his family members have been arrested, nor has their ability to travel been restricted in any way.
“This unprecedented ambush—paired with an advanced, coordinated media presence—leads to a premature rush to judgment of Mr. Combs and is nothing more than a witch hunt based on meritless accusations made in civil lawsuits.
“There has been no finding of criminal or civil liability with any of these allegations. Mr. Combs is innocent and will continue to fight every single day to clear his name.”
