Paparazzi photographers have been complete freedom to photograph Prince William’s girlfriend, Kate Middleton, when she has deliberately put herself in the public arena.

The ruling came after an inquiry into the media harassment of Kate at a meeting of the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee yesterday.

Earlier this year, Press Complaints Commission chairman, Sir Christopher Meyer, was forced to send out “desist” notices urging editors to keep their journalists away from Kate on her birthday, although he admitted that such a notice does not mean “no photographs ever”.

At yesterday’s meeting, Sir Meyer said that although he had asked the media to stop hounding Kate outside her home, they were still entitled to pursue her at nightclubs.

Going to a very public nightclub where you know paparazzi are there you know what you are going into and you know that celebs go there to be photographed, that’s a different order of things