Kate Middleton Topless Photos: French Court Rules In Favor of Royals
On Tuesday, a French court ordered that the topless pictures of Kate Middleton be handed over to the Royal couple within 24 hours. The court ruled in favor of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge stating that celebrity magazine Closer would be fined $13,000 every time it continued to distribute the private photos.
Prince William and Kate also filed a criminal charge against Closer, which could result in more severe fines in the tens of thousands of dollars and mean one year jail time for the magazine's editor.
The controversial pictures that had been published by the French publication show Middleton removing her bikini top while she vacationed at a private villa with the Prince in south France. The Royals had demanded that the shots be given to them due to their "grotesque" invasion of privacy. They were said to be "profoundly shocked and troubled" by the ordeal.
At Monday's civil hearing, Closer's lawyer, Delphine Pando, countered that the outrage over the pictures was a "disproportionate response" to an "ordinary scene."
However, the Royal couple's lawyer, Aurelien Hammelle, stated that the photos were "particularly simple and deeply intimate moments in the life of this couple that have no reason to be on a magazine cover."
While requesting an immediate injunction, he stated that the Sept. 5th shots had been taken nearly 15 years to the day that William's mother Princess Diana had tragically passed away in a "morbid, cynical and pointless chase" by the French paparazzi.
According to TMZ on Sept.14, the Royal Family previously issued a statement.
"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. 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."
