Duchess Kate exposure reveals Sun Media double standard for ‘upskirt’ photos

Sun Media tabloids across Canada have never missed an opportunity to humiliate any man caught taking surreptitious shots of women's undergarments in a public place.

"SUBWAY SICKO," blared the front page of the Toronto Sun last year, alongside a photo of a man accused of taking such 'upskirt' pictures on public transit being hauled away by undercover police.

And a recent story from the Edmonton Sun, about a conditional sentence handed down for voyeuristic filmmaking, branded the lensman a "pervert."

But standard is different, apparently, when the subject is the Duchess of Cambridge.

A photograph published in Sun Media newspapers across Canada on Saturday featured the former Kate Middleton having a "Marilyn Monroe moment." A still from "The Seven Year Itch," in which the actress stood over a subway grate as her skirt billowed, was juxtaposed with a rear view of Prince William and his new wife on the tarmac at Calgary Airport.

But the royal undergarments weren't quite as demure as the ones featured in the 1955 film.

The picture, snapped by Andre Forget, was allegedly not taken deliberately. The national QMI Agency photographer explained he couldn't see what he was shooting on Thursday as the camera's interior mirror was up at the same time as the duchess' skirt.

Rather than give away its goods on the front page, however, Sun newspapers covered Kate's exposure with a Union Jack. More detail was delivered on the pages within.

The editorial decision could keep publisher Quebecor from being able to scold upskirt photographers in the future.

Voyeuristic videos first made national news in 1996 when a retired schoolteacher was charged with sexual assault and mischief for walking around the Canadian National Exhibition in Toronto with a camera in his shoe.

While technology has made filming in public easier, Sun Media has repeatedly helped draw attention to the fact it's easy to get caught, even if the sentences aren't harsh.

Last month, an Edmonton man observed in a London Drugs store bending over to attach a cellphone to his shoe before moving close to an unsuspecting woman in a skirt was sentenced to a two-month conditional sentence and 12 months of probation.

Once apprehended by police, though, he admitted it wasn't the first time he tried this.

(AFP Photo)