• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

Germany raps UK papers for revealing Merkel shots

Posted on: Wednesday, 19 April 2006, 10:25 CDT

BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany reproached two British newspapers on Wednesday for publishing revealing photographs of Chancellor Angela Merkel and her husband in holiday swimwear.

The Sun and Daily Sport ran the shots of Merkel and Joachim Sauer relaxing by a pool on the Italian island of Ischia.

Merkel would not sue the papers as she was sure the public would condemn the publication of the pictures, her government spokesman Thomas Steg said.

The Sun ran a photo on Monday which it said showed Merkel's backside only partially covered by bathing trunks under the headline: "I'm big in the Bumdestag," a pun on the Berlin parliament's lower house, the Bundestag.

The text praised Merkel's economic record, saying Germany had a "much improved bottom line" and labeled her as "the cheeky chancellor" and "the Iron Frau," an allusion to Britain's first female premier, "Iron Lady" Margaret Thatcher.

However, the Daily Sport said on Monday that its picture, apparently the same one, was Sauer getting changed. With a hooded white bath robe masking the figure, it was unclear who it actually was.

"The chancellor has an interest in recharging her batteries, spending time with her husband and relaxing and not constantly having to put up with the voyeuristic attentions of photographers," spokesman Steg told a regular news conference.

He said Germany's media had behaved responsibly in contrast.

Germany's biggest-selling daily, Bild, which regularly has page-one topless models and graphic images of violence, attacked the Sun on Wednesday, saying it was "rotten to the core" and that England's football squad would suffer as a result.

"We will kick you off the pitch at the World Cup because of the photos in the Sun," columnist Franz Josef Wagner wrote. "We would never print photos of your Queen in support stockings."

Bild reproduced the relevant page from the Sun next to an article on Tuesday but concealed the backside with a red rectangle.

The Sun, which ran further pictures in the paper and online, said:

"Politicians and newspapers have reacted angrily to our rear revelation. But the chancellor has proved she has a sense of humor by telling us she won't sue."

(Additional reporting by Katie Allen in London)

Source: REUTERS

More News in this Category