Royal privacy court case:
Duke and Duchess of Cambridge welcome court victory over ‘serious breach of privacy’ while on holiday
THE Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have hailed a court victory after they were awarded more than €100,000 in damages over topless photographs taken on holiday in France.
The Duke and Duchess condemned the “unjustified intrusion” into their lives and “serious breach of privacy” which occurred on holiday in 2012, when Closer magazine carried photographs of the Duchess in Provence.
A French court has ordered the magazine to pay €100,000 (£91,700) in civil damages. In a separate criminal trial taking place at the same time the magazine’s editor and a senior executive were personally fined.
A royal source said the Duke and Duchess would donate the money to charity privately.
A Kensington Palace spokesman said: “The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are pleased that the court has found in their favour and the matter is now closed.
“This incident was a serious breach of privacy, and their Royal Highnesses felt it essential to pursue all legal remedies. They wished to make the point strongly that this kind of unjustified intrusion should not happen.”
The civil damages were far lower than the €1.5million that the Duke and Duchess had asked for but their lawyer, Jean Veil, said that they were “twice as high as normal in such a case”.
In the criminal case, Laurence Pieau, the editor of Closer in France, and Ernesto Mauri, chief executive of the Mondadori group which owns the magazine, were both handed the maximum fines of €45,000 for invasion of privacy.
Cyril Moreau and Dominique Jacovides, two Paris-based agency photographers suspected of having taken the topless photographs, were fined €10,000 each, with half suspended. A week before Closer published the shots, another image of the couple from a different angle, and not topless, was printed in La Provence, a regional daily. It was ordered to pay €3,000 in damages and its then publishing director, Marc Auburtin, and photographer Valerie Suau were ordered to pay suspended fines of €1,500 and €1,000.
Paul-albert Iweins, a lawyer for Closer, said: “Two observations: the Windsor spouses demanded one and a half million and they got €50,000 each, which is in line with previous legal precedents, and we are happy with that. However, the fine seems exaggerated for a simple private affair.”
Presiding judge Florence Lasserrejeannin delivered her judgment during the hearing at the Tribunal de Grande Instance de Nanterre.
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge were on the terrace of a private chateau in Provence owned by Viscount Linley, the Queen’s nephew, when they were photographed in Sept 2012.
Alongside an article with the headline “Oh my God!”, one of the most intimate shots showed the Duchess of Cambridge topless and having sun cream rubbed into her by the Duke.
The verdict comes just after the 20th anniversary of the death in Paris of Diana, Princess of Wales.
During the trial, a statement from the Duke was read to the court in which he said the photos brought back painful memories of the “harassment” his mother had endured by paparazzi.
Closer’s lawyers had countered that it was of public interest to know that “the potential future heirs to the throne have a solid relationship and are getting on well. It’s all part of the royal business”.