Personal Privacy
Saturday, January 01, 2000
[This was written years before Diana’s death while being chased by cameramen.]
What we are doing to Princesses Diana and Fergie is wrong. Civilisation is based on the dignity of the individual, which includes privacy.
Just for sport, we have denied these young women this basic right and inflicted mass ridicule. Sneaked photos and furtive recordings sold for money and shown to all make a deed utterly devoid of compassion.
We have hurt them and their families. And we have hurt our own children. By socially assassinating these two, we are saying it's okay. This form of barbarism now becomes more acceptable.
We protect our rights by making sure they extend to every person. If we break this rule, and make certain people disposable, we brutalise our society and we must all in due course pay the price.
Philip O'Carroll