Prince William RAF Photos Leak Sensitive Information

Prince William has indirectly caused a security breach for the Ministry of Defence (MoD) on Tuesday, when official photos documenting his life at a Royal Air Force base in North Wales revealed user names and passwords of his fellow pilots.

By the time the mistake was spotted, the pictures were widely available online, and even printed in London’s Evening Standard newspaper. As a result, the MoD was forced to recall and alter the images and reset the login details for dozens of RAF personnel.

Flight Lieutenant Wales

The pictures were meant to capture a ‘day in the life’ of the possible future king, who currently works as a search and rescue helicopter pilot at the RAF Valley base in Anglesey. They show William training, maintaining his helicopter and relaxing with a cup of tea after a 24-hour shift.

The stunt was supposed to generate publicity for prince’s new official website – www.dukeandduchessofcambridge.org. However, it later turned out that four out of ten picturesshowed computer screens or documents with information about William’s colleagues, including user names and passwords.

According to the Daily Mail, the images had not been cleared by the MoD before they were published. Four hours after they appeared on William’s website, the Ministry realised the mistake, but by that time the content was already doing the rounds online, on TV and in newspapers.

After the mistake was discovered, the photos were recalled. They reappeared several hours later, with sensitive information blurred out.

“Due to an administrative oversight, these photographs were not properly cleared at RAF Valley. They have now been amended,” reads a statement from MoD. “The passwords and user names shown have now been reset as a precaution and we are satisfied the images do not contravene security regulations.”

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