Royal stalkers not so regal

People who persistently stalk the British royal family have much the same characteristics as those who stalk less prominent members of the community, a study from the ‘Fixated Persons Project’ in London has concluded. With a number of Australian co-investigators including Professor Paul Mullen and Dr Michele Pathé, the study compared data from police files on people who had engaged in inappropriate or threatening communications or intrusions towards the British royals, and stalkers identified in a general forensic population. Those who had a prior sexual relationship with their target were excluded. Despite the wide differences in their targets, the features of those who persisted with the behaviour in the two groups were surprisingly similar. The strongest factors associated with persistence were psychotic illness, an intimacy-seeking motivation, and a history of multiple or intrusive forms of communication. The authors noted that research on people who harassed or threatened public figures such as politicians and heads of state had evolved separately from that on stalking. It tended to concentrate on the risks of extremely rare events such as physical attacks or assassination. In addition, senior figures were often shielded from stalking behaviour by their multiple layers of protective security. Distinguishing between those who made isolated attempts at contact and those who were likely to persist had significant implications for the allocation of protective resources, the researchers said. Journal of Forensic Psychiatry and Psychology 2010; published online.  ...