Princes grace glitzy media bash

Princes Charles and William celebrated the 10th Anniversary of the PCC

LONDON, England -- Prince William has attended a Press Complaints Commission party where photographers lined up outside Somerset House, waiting to catch a glimpse of the royal pin-up.

Prince William, 18, together with his father Prince Charles, the heir to the British throne, joined the glittering ceremony, which marks the 10th anniversary of the Press Complaints Commission.

Newspaper editors obsessed with every twist and turn in the British royal soap opera were invited to join William and a string of celebrities who have in the past complained of media intrusion into their private lives.

Newspapers were bemused by the young prince's appearance, as the Daily Telegraph concluded "Press invites William into the Lion's den" and "Party princes venture into the Lion's den" agreed the Times.

The occasion even gave the papers a news story -- Charles partied in public with his son and his long-time lover Camilla Parker Bowles for the first time.

Despite appearing together, Charles and William spent the night working separate parts of the room, meeting figures form the worlds of television, film, law and Parliament.

Heavy cold

Teenage heartthrob William has inherited the shy and demure good looks of his mother Princess Diana, hounded around the globe by paparazzi until her death in a Paris car crash in 1997.

The Press Complaints Commission, known as Britain's media watchdog, has spent the last six years protecting Prince William from probing paparazzi.

PCC Chairman Lord Wakeham said William's protection from unauthorised press photographs would continue when he begins a four-year art history degree in September.

William's appearance at the party was his way of saying "Thank You" for growing up in private after his mother's death.

The tabloids recorded his every move around the party.

Despite suffering from a heavy cold, William circulated freely around the party. He even teased John Savident, star of the Coronation Street soap opera, telling him how much he enjoyed watching the rival soap Eastenders.

"What! Wash you mouth out with soap young man," Savident told William.

After 90 minutes in the lion's den, the two princes left together, saying they had had a great evening. William described the event as "brilliant."

Reuters contributed to this report.

Papers ordered respect royal privacy
February 7, 2001
Prince Charles in Coronation Street drama
December 8, 2000
Prince William 'upset' by Diana book
September 29, 2000

British Monarchy
Press Complaints Commission
Somerset House

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