Kate Middleton Topless Photos Banned; French Court Grants Injunction
Prince William and Kate Middleton have won an injunction in a French court on Tuesday, which blocks further publication of topless photographs of the Duchess of Cambridge.
Attorneys for the royal couple successfully secured the historic injunction just four days after the intrusive photos were published in a French magazine. The injunction prevents the owners of Closer magazine from sharing the photos and from further publication, according to reports.
The court ruling specifically ordered that Closer magazine, which first published the semi-nude photos of Middleton, 30, must remove all of the photos from its website and the publication is now prohibited from selling them. In the event that Closer does sell or publish the images, the magazine will receive a fine of 10,000 euros for each violation, according to Mail Online UK.
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Closer must hand the original photos to the Royal palace within 24 hours, and they must pay 2000 euros in legal feeds to the Duke and Duchess. In addition, it is now illegal for any French publication to publish the photos.
Barrister Aurelien Hammelle condemned the French paparazzi for violating Middleton's privacy, saying that the Duchess is a "young woman, not an object."
The Royal couple, who is currently in the middle of a nine-day tour of Asia to commemorate the Queen's Diamond Jubilee, was understandably shaken and outraged after learning that paparazzi had secretly snapped topless photographs of the Duchess of Cambridge sunbathing at a private estate while on vacation with Prince William, 30, in France on Sept. 7. They filed a lawsuit against Closer magazine on Friday and won the injunction on Tuesday.
French photographer Valarie Suau admitted to taking pictures of both Prince William and Middleton, who were sunbathing on the terrace of the $20million holiday retreat owned by Viscount Linley, the Queen's nephew. At one point an unsuspecting Middleton was topless, although Suau insists that she did not take or release any semi-nude photos.
Prince William and his wife of over one year also filed a criminal complaint under France's strict privacy laws. If the court rules in their favor, Closer magazine could be fined up 36,000 pounds and Laurence Pieau, the magazine's Editors, could serve up to one year in prison.
