Britain's Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip arrive at the airport in Port of Spain before the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting November 26, 2009. [Agencies]

Britain's Queen Elizabeth has written to newspaper and magazine editors over the issue of paparazziphotographers intruding on the royal family's privacy, Buckingham Palace said on Sunday.

"The letter was sent to editors in response to many years of the royal family being houndedby photographers on the Queen's private property," her press office said.

There were no details of the contents of the "private and not for publication" letter, sent by a royal lawyer on the queen's behalf, or when it was sent. But the Sunday Telegraph said the royals were now ready to take legal action if photographers took pictures of them while they were "off duty."

It said they could sue for breach of privacy or take action under protection of harassment laws. "Members of the royal family feel they have a right to privacy when they are going about everyday, private activities," said Paddy Harverson, spokesman for the queen's son Prince Charles.

"They recognize there is a public interest in them and what they do, but they do not think this extends to photographing the private activities of them and their friends." The royal family have long had a strained relationship with the media, especially after the death of Charles's first wife Princess Diana in a Paris car crash in 1997 while being pursued by paparazzi photographers.

In recent years Diana's eldest son Prince William and his girlfriend Kate Middleton have found themselves targeted by press and magazine photographers. Taking legal action would see the royals following in the footsteps of Princess Caroline of Monaco, who won 10,000 euros ($15,000) in damages at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg in 2005 over German press photos of her and her family.

The court backedCaroline's claim that the pictures had violated her right to respect for her private life. The first test of the new royal stance is likely to come later this month when the queen is joined by other members of the royal family during her regular Christmas visit to her Sandringham estate in Norfolk, in eastern England.

In the past, freelance photographers have spent hours on the estate, whose gardens are open to the public, with long distance lenses hoping to snatch a photo of the royals at play, the Sunday Telegraph noted.

英国白金汉宫于上周日称，日前，女王伊丽莎白二世致信报刊杂志的编辑，就狗仔队侵犯王室隐私一事表明自己的态度。

女王新闻办公室称：“这封信已寄给编辑们，以回应狗仔队们多年来在女王私人领地对王室的骚扰。

这封信件由王室律师以女王的名义发送，信件内容“属于隐私，不公开发表”，所以有关信件的详细内容和发送时间都不得而知。但据《星期日电讯报》报道，王室不会再容忍狗仔队对其私人活动进行偷拍，否则将采取法律行动。

据称，王室将以侵犯隐私提出诉讼或按照骚扰行为的有关法令采取必要行动。女王之子查尔斯王储的发言人帕迪·哈瓦逊说：“王室成员认为，涉及日常的私人活动，他们享有个人隐私权。”

“王室成员认识到公众对王室及王室都在干些什么很感兴趣，但这并不意味着记者们就可以随意拍摄王室成员及其朋友们的私人生活。”英国王室和媒体之间的关系一直很紧张，尤其是在查尔斯王储的第一任妻子戴安娜王妃1997年在巴黎遭车祸丧生之后，当时戴安娜王妃遭到狗仔摄影记者的穷追。

近年来，戴安娜王妃的长子威廉王子和女友凯特?米德尔顿发现自己成为媒体和杂志摄影记者们追踪的目标。此前，皇室因不满媒体追踪而提起法律诉讼的情况在其它国家也有先例。摩纳哥公主卡罗琳曾将德国小报告上斯特拉斯堡的欧洲人权法庭，诉称其多次刊登自己和家人的照片，并于2005年获得一万欧元（合1.5万美元）的赔偿。

卡罗琳公主提出的有关偷拍照片侵犯了其私人生活受尊重权利的上诉获得了法庭的支持。英国王室在对待狗仔队问题上的新立场有望在本月晚些时候首次得到验证。届时，女王将按惯例，和王室其他成员一起前往位于英格兰东部诺福克的桑德灵汉姆宫度圣诞。

《星期日电讯报》报道称，过去，自由摄影记者们会在桑德灵汉姆宫对公众开放的花园架起长镜头，“潜伏”数小时，以期抓拍到王室成员们玩乐的照片。

Vocabulary:

paparazzi：a freelance photographer, esp. one who takes candid pictures of celebrities for publication（猎奇名流的摄影记者；狗仔队）

hound：to pursue or harass without respite（追逐，纠缠）

back：to support, as with authority, influence, help, or money（支持，帮助）