You know when you dip your toe in the water and then decide not to go in after all?
Well, that basically sums up the fairly feeble efforts of the reputable UK newspaper the Daily Telegraph to push the envelope and publish some harmless pictures of Kate shopping (that have already been seen around the world online).
For Kensington Palace has won its latest privacy battle with the British media after the website of the Daily Telegraph took down its story about Kate Middleton's supermarket shopping trip in Anglesey this week, which included paparazzi photos of the Duchess looking amazingly trim just five weeks after giving birth and listed items in her shopping cart.
As of this morning an error message was on the landing page of the story about the Duchess of Cambridge's first sighting since giving birth to Prince George. Kate's office refused to make any comment, but are likely to be jubilant that the once-troublesome British press has been so easily brought to heel.
A senior courtier told the Daily Beast earlier in the week that Kate's team at the palace was "considering their options" after the Telegraph flouted a long-standing agreement not to publish snatched pictures of Kate going about her daily business.
Although Kensington Palace has long accepted that they cannot prevent foreign media publishing long-lens pictures of the Duchess - and one may question whether this is a purely Phyrric victory for the royals as the pics have long since gone viral after they were first published on Popsugar - they have in recent years succeeded in striking deals with most of the domestic UK media whereby access and the odd tip are traded in return for self-censorship when it comes to pictures which intrude on her private life.
The UK media has demonstrated particular restraint in choosing not to publish pictures taken without authorization of Kate in Wales.
So the publication of pictures of Kate’s supermarket sweep in the usually staunch Daily Telegraph, which also listed all the items in her trolley, came as something of a shock.
Less friendly words than usual have since been exchanged between Kensington Palace and the Telegraph, questioning “the news value and public interest in publishing photos taken surreptitiously of The Duchess going about her daily business,” according to a source.
While many will applaud the protection of a young mother's privacy, there will be others who will mourn at the remarkable ease with which the once-fearless British press has submitted to the will of the palace.