Royals win topless photos damages
Duke and Duchess pleased by court’s decision to fine French magazine and paparazzi
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have welcomed a court’s decision to award more than €100,000 in damages over topless photographs published of Kate.
The couple “felt it essential to pursue all legal remedies” after the images were published by France’s Closer magazine, Kensington Palace said.
THE DUKE and Duchess of Cambridge have welcomed a court’s decision after they were awarded more than €100,000 in damages over topless photographs published of Kate.
The couple “felt it essential to pursue all legal remedies” after the long-lens images of Kate sunbathing on a terrace were published by France’s Closer magazine in September 2012, Kensington Palace said.
The publication was ordered to pay each of the couple €50,000 (£46,000) at a Paris court on Tuesday after it was ruled they had breached her privacy.
A Kensington Palace spokeswoman 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 photos, taken as Kate holidayed with William at a private chateau in Provence in France, adorned the front and inside pages of Closer almost five years ago. Regional newspaper La Provence also printed images of the Duchess in her swimwear. It was instructed to pay €3,000 (£2,700) in damages by judge Florence Lasserre-Jeannin during the hearing at the Tribunal de Grande Instance de Nanterre.
The judgment yesterday follows the trial of six people, including three photographers, linked to Closer magazine and La Provence, which began in May. The judge convicted all six defendants of charges relating to the taking and publication of the images.
Ernesto Mauri, 70, chief executive of publishing group Mondadori, which produces Closer, and Laurence Pieau, 51, editor of the magazine in France, were fined for their role in the invasion of privacy. They both must pay the maximum penalty of €45,000 (£41,000).
The judgment comes just a week after the 20th anniversary of the death of Diana, Princess of Wales. The trial heard William found the publication of the topless photographs “all the more painful” given his late mother’s battle with the paparazzi.
Agency photographers Cyril Moreau and Dominique Jacovides, who had denied taking the topless photos, were told to each pay €10,000 (£9,200), of which €5,000 (£4,600) is suspended.
Marc Auburtin, 57, La Provence’s publishing director at the time, was handed a suspended fine of €1,500 (£1,380), while the paper’s photographer, Valerie Suau, 53, was given a €1,000 (£920) suspended penalty.
The publication of the images prompted a fierce reaction, with St James’s Palace stating they were “reminiscent of the worst excesses of the press and paparazzi” during Diana’s life. William and Kate launched legal proceedings in 2012 and a Paris court banned Closer, which is separate from the UK’s Closer magazine, from printing any more images.