Kate Middleton's Paparazzi Hounding Is Focus of New Viral Video

Footage of Kate, the Princess of Wales, being pursued by photographers outside her home before her marriage to Prince William has become the focus of a new viral video, after resurfacing on social media site TikTok.

Throughout her time in the public eye, Kate has been embroiled in a number of privacy arguments, as inevitable parallels between her treatment by the press and that faced by William's late mother, Princess Diana, have been drawn.

Kate met William while studying at St. Andrew's University in Scotland in 2001 and they began a relationship soon after. By 2005, press and paparazzi interest in her had become so intense that her family's lawyers sent a warning to the editors of national newspapers in Britain, asking them to refrain from publishing material about her private life. It also raised concerns over the behavior of photographers who had been regularly following her.

As a girlfriend to Prince William, Kate was not entitled to royal protection officers, however, police were dispatched on certain occasions when a large media presence was known to be following her.

One of the most damning episodes in Kate's pursuit by photographers came in January 2007 on the day of her 25th birthday. Rumors that a royal engagement announcement was imminent had seen a surge in interest surrounding her and more than 20 photographers and five news cameras were posted outside her front door that morning.

Uploaded to TikTok by user royal_secrets24 on August 16, a compilation video showing Kate's 25th birthday pursuit by photographers has been viewed more than 150,000 times on the platform so far.

The video forms part of an internet trend featuring an audio clip which contains the phrase: "And you, what would you do for love?" Footage of the press incident then follows.

The 25th birthday incident marked an important moment in Kate's experiences with the media. The number of photographers had increased as it marked because of her milestone event and the engagement rumors. As a result of the ensuing scramble, two of Britain's news publishers announced they would no longer run paparazzi photographs taken of Kate.

The incident provoked a rare statement from Prince William on the treatment she was now regularly facing, six years into their relationship.

"Prince William is very unhappy at the paparazzi harassment of his girlfriend. He wants more than anything for it to stop," a spokesperson for the prince said at the time, per the Daily Mail.

"Miss Middleton should, like any other private individual, be able to go about her everyday business without this kind of intrusion," they said. "The situation is proving unbearable for all those concerned."

The media's pursuit of photographs and stories relating to the royal family were pulled into sharp focus in 2007 with the sentencing of the News of the World's former royal editor, Clive Goodman, who was convicted of hacking phones to inform his reporting. This took place just a month after Kate's birthday incident.

William and Kate ended speculation of an impeding engagement announcement in April 2007 when it was revealed that they had broken up, though they rekindled their romance later that year.

In July 2007, Kate was named in a government report on press regulation, which cited the "hounding of Ms Kate Middleton" as a failure of the measures in place at the time, particularly stemming from the incident on her 25th birthday.

The report stated that Kate had been the victim of "persistent harassment" by photographers and criticized the Press Complaints Commission for not acting to protect her sooner.

William and Kate announced their engagement three years later, in November 2010. In an interview at the time, William stressed that he wanted to give Kate time to decide whether the pressures and attention that came with royal life would be too much to handle.

Speaking of his future wife and her family, William said: "I really want to make sure they have the best sort of guidance and chance to see what life has been like or what life is like in the [royal] family, and that's kind of almost why I have been waiting this long."

"I wanted to give her a chance to see in and to back out if she needed to before it all got too much," he explained. "Because I'm trying to learn from lessons done in the past and I just wanted to give her the best chance to settle in and to see what happens on the other side."

Since her marriage, Kate and William have raised a number of privacy issues with the media, mostly concerning their three children: Prince George (born 2013), Princess Charlotte (born 2015) and Prince Louis (born 2018).

Most recently, William's brother, Prince Harry, highlighted continuing issues with the paparazzi when he was pursued through New York for two hours by photographers when leaving an event with Meghan Markle in May.

A spokesperson for the couple described the event as a "near catastrophic" car chase, and added: "While being a public figure comes with a level of interest from the public, it should never come at the cost of anyone's safety."

The viral TikTok video showing Kate's paparazzi experience has received in excess of 17,000 likes and numerous comments, many of which have voiced support for the royal.

"She is a strong woman💚," wrote one user.

"She endured all of that 🥺," posted another, with a further comment reading: "Prince William was smart to wait, to make sure she could handle the pressure."

James Crawford-Smith is Newsweek's royal reporter, based in London. You can find him on Twitter at @jrcrawfordsmith and read his stories on Newsweek's The Royals Facebook page.

Do you have a question about King Charles III, William and Kate, Meghan and Harry, or their family that you would like our experienced royal correspondents to answer? Email royals@newsweek.com. We'd love to hear from you.