The Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton has won a lawsuit filed against Closer, a French tabloid, for publishing topless pictures of her while on holiday with Prince William in 2012. The royal couple were on vacation and were staying at a chateau owned by a relative in Provence, France.
In addition to the topless photos, there were images of Kate in her swimwear that were published in La Provence, another local tabloid.
Judge Florence Lasserre-Jeannin has instructed La Provence to pay Kate Middleton three thousand euros as damages for printing the unauthorized images. Closer was fined forty-five thousand euros for publishing the photos and causing embarrassment and distress to Kate and William. The Editor of the tabloid, Laurence Pieau, was also fined forty-five thousand euros, bringing the total to almost $120,000 for the Duchess.
Chief Executive of Bauer Media, the firm that owns Closer magazine, Paul Keenan, said in a statement posted on the website: “We have complained in the strongest terms to the licensee of Closer France over the publication by them of photographs of their Royal Highnesses, Prince William and the Duchess of Cambridge. We deplore the publication of these intrusive an offensive pictures and have asked that Closer France take these pictures down immediately from its website and desist from publishing any further pictures. Bauer Media and Closer UK regards publication of these photographs as a gross intrusion of their Royal Highnesses’ privacy.”
Meanwhile the French barrister representing William and Kate said about the matter, “Their Royal Highnesses have been hugely saddened to learn that a French publication and a photographer had invaded their privacy in such a grotesque and totally unjustifiable manner. The incident is reminiscent of the worst excesses of the press and paparazzi during the life of Diana, Princess of Wales, and all the more upsetting to the Duke and Duchess for being so. Their Royal Highnesses had every expectation of privacy in the remote house. It is unthinkable that anyone should take such photographs, let alone publish them.”
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