The tragic and untimely death of Princess Diana and her companions has brought the long standing issues of celebrities privacy versus the general media and paparazzi. Many celebrities have long found it difficult to have privacy, but in recent years, more and more actual confrontations between celebrities and the media have been taking place.

Queen themselves have been no stranger to media interference in their lives. The most commonly brought up example is the way reporters and photographers hounded the last days of Freddie's life, even camping out on the street outside his house. That certainly isn't the only example. All the band members at one time or another have had photos and details of their private lives made public, hurting not only that individual, but often their friends and family as well. Brian's children, for example, would have been terribly affected the first times photographers sold and scandal sheets published pictures of Brian and Anita at a friend's party.

There is a line between responsible reporting and gross invasion of someone's privacy. When celebrities cannot have a minute alone, have people trying to photograph them in their own yards, homes, and as they ride in their vehicles, things have clearly gone way too far. Unfortunately, the responsibility for this lies in many places. While it is the "paparazzi" photographers who are immediately responsibile, they are ultimately backed by newspapers, magazines, and television shows that pay handsome prices for the photos, thus encouraging the paparazzi to turn to more and more outrageous stunts to get THE photo that will make them rich. In turn, these media sources couldn't afford to pay the prices for the photos that they do if we, the public, didn't respond by buying those publications and watching those shows.

I encourage everyone who reads this and was shocked and appalled by the Princess's death and who remembers and was dismayed by Freddie's treatment by the press during the last days of his life to click on the links I've put on my main page to see what sorts of things you can do to help stop this sort of thing. Not purchasing from people who publish these sorts of photos is only one of the things that can be done. They have a number of suggestions on these two pages, and in addition, I would like to suggest that you contact companies that advertise in these publications or on the television shows. We cannot allow this sort of thing to continue.