As well as there being a long tradition of Murdoch’s papers backing the winning side in general elections, tabloids were credited with creating the public mood that led the U.K. Over the past half-century or so, tabloids have been credited with holding a great deal of influence over the British public. “From the 18th century onwards, Britain has had this real disrespect for authority in print,” James Rodgers, Head of International Journalism Studies at City, University of London, told TIME. Tabloid newspapers, known as ‘red tops,’ developed into a staple in British society, with a unique reputation of being both rude and funny. Other papers followed the Sun’s lead, including the News of the World – shut down in 2011 in the aftermath of Britain’s phone hacking scandal – which transformed from a broadsheet into a tabloid in 1984.
“The content of his papers shifted towards a fascination with the sex and love lives of the famous,” wrote Kim McNamara in Paparazzi: Media Practices and Celebrity Culture. Knowing that the poorly-resourced paper would not beat its competitors on news, it turned its focus to features and, as people were watching television in ever-increasing numbers, centred its attention on the lives of actors both on and off-screen.
In the late 1960s, media mogul Rupert Murdoch entered the British newspaper industry and bought failing broadsheet the Sun. “No one is safe, not even royalty,” the 1961 article explained. In 1961, TIME explained the relatively new term “paparazzi” to its readers, comparing them to streetwalkers because “they cling to their place in society.” The article helped popularize the word synonymous today with the invasive photographers who pursue their celebrity quarries by any means necessary.
“We will not allow them to suffer the anguish that used regularly to drive you to tearful despair.” At her funeral in September 1997, her brother Charles Spencer left mourners in no doubt who he blamed, describing his sister as “the most hunted person of the modern age.” “She would want us today to pledge ourselves to protecting her beloved boys William and Harry from a similar fate,” he said. The speeding car carrying Diana away from the paparazzi crashed into a pillar, killing her and her then fiancee Dodi al-Fayed. This was doubtless a scenario Diana experienced on a regular basis - until the moment, in a Paris underpass three years later, the pursuit would turn fatal. It caused a sensation - a good night’s work for the paparazzi pair. Harvey’s photograph of Diana driving the married millionaire art dealer Oliver Hoare into Kensington Palace at night was sold to the British tabloid News of the World in an exclusive deal. “Please, please, let that picture be sharp,” he prayed. Harvey leapt from the vehicle, camera in hand, and dived across the bonnet of the car, firing his camera at the Audi as it disappeared from sight. Seconds later they were in hot pursuit, following Diana through red lights, driving down the wrong side of a traffic island and accelerating in front of trucks, until she began turning into the entrance of Kensington Palace.
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