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Royals file lawsuit as William and Kate saddened by topless photos
Source: Agencies |
September 15, 2012, Saturday
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BRITAIN'S royal family says it is suing the French magazine that has published topless photos of Prince William's wife Kate.
St James's Palace said yesterday that "legal proceedings for breach of privacy have been commenced in France" by the royal couple.
The French gossip magazine Closer yesterday unleashed a new media tornado on the royal family with a five-page splash of photos showing the Duchess of Cambridge sunbathing topless with Prince William in France.
Closer ran a dozen shots of the duchess as she slipped off her bikini top, relaxed on a sun lounger and at one point pulled down the back of her bikini bottoms as William rubbed sun cream on her lower back.
Under the headline "Oh my God!", the photos show the couple soaking up the sun on the balcony of a 19th century hunting lodge.
While Closer defended its decision to publish the photographs, a royal spokesperson called it a "grotesque" move that had upset the royal couple, currently touring southeast Asia.
"Their Royal Highnesses have been hugely saddened to learn that a French publication and a photographer have invaded their privacy in such a grotesque and totally unjustifiable manner," a spokesperson for St James' Palace said. "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."
British Prime Minister David Cameron's spokeswoman also said the royal couple should be entitled to their privacy.
Closer's Editor-in-Chief Laurence Pieau described the photos as a "beautiful series" that showed a couple in love and were in no way degrading. She said the magazine had more intimate shots from the same series that it opted not to publish.
"There's been an over-reaction to these photos. What we see is a young couple, who just got married, who are very much in love, who are splendid," Pieau told French BFM television.
"It's without a doubt an invasion of privacy," said Christopher Mesnooh, a US lawyer who practices in France. "They were on vacation in a friend's chateau. There was no expectation the press would be there. So visibly they have been damaged by the fact the pictures were taken and it is likely a French court would rule in that direction."
A torrent of twitter commentary mostly chided Closer for running the shots.
"Utter disgrace that a mid-market French rag has invaded Kate Middleton's privacy like this. Gutter press morality," tweeted billionaire media magnate Evgeny Lebedev, who owns British daily The Independent and London's Evening Standard.
St James's Palace said yesterday that "legal proceedings for breach of privacy have been commenced in France" by the royal couple.
The French gossip magazine Closer yesterday unleashed a new media tornado on the royal family with a five-page splash of photos showing the Duchess of Cambridge sunbathing topless with Prince William in France.
Closer ran a dozen shots of the duchess as she slipped off her bikini top, relaxed on a sun lounger and at one point pulled down the back of her bikini bottoms as William rubbed sun cream on her lower back.
Under the headline "Oh my God!", the photos show the couple soaking up the sun on the balcony of a 19th century hunting lodge.
While Closer defended its decision to publish the photographs, a royal spokesperson called it a "grotesque" move that had upset the royal couple, currently touring southeast Asia.
"Their Royal Highnesses have been hugely saddened to learn that a French publication and a photographer have invaded their privacy in such a grotesque and totally unjustifiable manner," a spokesperson for St James' Palace said. "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."
British Prime Minister David Cameron's spokeswoman also said the royal couple should be entitled to their privacy.
Closer's Editor-in-Chief Laurence Pieau described the photos as a "beautiful series" that showed a couple in love and were in no way degrading. She said the magazine had more intimate shots from the same series that it opted not to publish.
"There's been an over-reaction to these photos. What we see is a young couple, who just got married, who are very much in love, who are splendid," Pieau told French BFM television.
"It's without a doubt an invasion of privacy," said Christopher Mesnooh, a US lawyer who practices in France. "They were on vacation in a friend's chateau. There was no expectation the press would be there. So visibly they have been damaged by the fact the pictures were taken and it is likely a French court would rule in that direction."
A torrent of twitter commentary mostly chided Closer for running the shots.
"Utter disgrace that a mid-market French rag has invaded Kate Middleton's privacy like this. Gutter press morality," tweeted billionaire media magnate Evgeny Lebedev, who owns British daily The Independent and London's Evening Standard.
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