A British tabloid newspaper withdrew plans to publish a paparazzi picture of Prince William and his girlfriend Kate Middleton on Saturday after he complained they had been aggressively pursued by photographers.

William said that paparazzi had chased the couple on motorbikes and in cars as they were driven away from a London nightclub, just days after an inquest opened into his mother’s death in a high-speed crash.

“Having already been photographed leaving a club, he and Kate Middleton were then pursued in his car by photographers on motorcycles, in vehicles and on foot,” the prince’s press secretary Paddy Harverson said.

After the prince’s complaint, the Daily Mail newspaper withdrew one of the paparazzi photos it had planned to use on its front page.