The European Commission of Human Rights refused yesterday to consider a lawsuit brought by Earl Spencer in which he alleged that the British government failed to protect his family's privacy.
Earl Spencer (33), brother of Diana, the late Princess of Wales, brought the action together with his former wife, Ms Victoria Lockwood (32), following press reports in 1995 that she was being treated for eating disorders and alcoholism.
Photographs of her in the grounds of a clinic were published, and details of the couple's marital problems were revealed.
Earl Spencer and Ms Lockwood, who were then still married, argued that the British legal system failed to prevent their personal details being revealed and gave them no means of seeking compensation.
Although it did not publish its reasons yesterday, the Commission apparently agreed with British government lawyers that the couple had not exhausted ways of resolving their dispute with the press in the British courts.
The suit, brought under Article Eight of the European Convention on Human Rights which says everyone has a right to privacy, was particularly sensitive following the death of Diana last year.
At Diana's funeral, and in front of hundreds of millions of TV viewers, Earl Spencer accused the media of hounding her and contributing to her death. He said some sections of the press had "blood on their hands".
He also issued a call for privacy laws to curb the excesses of British tabloid newspapers.
Although now divorced, Earl Spencer and his former wife were apparently united in their desire to take the British government to court. The offending pictures and article appeared notably in the tabloid News of the World in April 1995. The couple took action against the papers for breach of confidence but eventually reached a settlement.
The case for both sides was heard at a closed-door session at the Commission, after which the panel retired to consider if it should handle the case. None of the lawyers acting for the parties would comment on what had been discussed at the hearing, pleading confidentiality.
Earl Spencer, a former journalist, has never been far from the press spotlight. When Diana first came to prominence in 1981 as a shy 19-year-old, her younger brother was the archetypal "Champagne Charlie", privately educated, loud and brash.
Newspapers delighted in his antics, and it was during the early 1980s that the seeds of his dislike for the press may have been sown.
His tribute to Diana at her funeral won him widespread applause and much sympathy. However, his private life returned quickly to the spotlight again when allegations in a Cape Town court late last year that he had enjoyed a string of affairs during his marriage were splashed across the world's media. That hearing was being held to determine if Earl Spencer and Ms Lockwood should have their divorce case dealt with in Britain or South Africa, where they both now live.
Disconcerted by the full publicity given to the allegations, they eventually reached a settlement and were divorced.