Photo oops: U.S. posts pic of Spain’s goth first daughters
| September 26, 2009 | 5:46 AM
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It’s enough to make any bureaucrat shutter, uh, shudder.
The State Department posted a photo on its official Flickr page that showed President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama posing with Spain’s prime minister and his family, including his two teenage daughters, who were dressed as goths. Trouble is, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero has always tried to keep his children, Laura, 16, and Alba, 13, out of the public eye, and he apparently didn’t think the U.S. would show the picture to the world on the photo-sharing Web site.
In fact, most people in Spain had never seen the elusive girls until the photo hit the Web. The two teenagers appeared in the typical black clothes and calf-high boots of the punk-inspired subculture known as goth. The picture was taken at a reception for world leaders at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City — at least the black outfits were the right color for the formal event.
Under Spanish law, Zapatero can prevent the media in his country from publishing photos of his daughters. The State Department must have cut him some slack, as the picture has disappeared from its site.
You’d think someone in the diplomatic corps would know how Zapatero feels about his children’s privacy.
Read more at London’s Guardian and see the photo at nypost.com.
Related link:
barack obama, flickr, goth, jose luis rodriguez zapatero, spain's first daughters, spanish prime minister, state department
