Duchess wins damages over topless photos
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge
have been awarded 100,000 euros (£92,000) in damages after a French
magazine printed topless pictures of Catherine.
A French court
ruled the images used by Closer - taken as the couple holidayed in
Provence five years ago - had been an invasion of their privacy.
Kensington Palace said the royals were pleased with the ruling.
The judge fined Closer magazine's editor and owner 45,000 euros - the maximum amount allowed.
The
damages - 50,000 euros to each royal - fall short of the 1.6 million
euros (£1.5m) sought by lawyers for Prince William and Catherine.
'Unjustified intrusion'
Long-lens
images of Catherine sunbathing on a terrace were published on the front
and inside pages of the Closer publication - which is separate to the
UK's Closer magazine - in 2012.
Presiding judge Florence
Lasserre-Jeannin also instructed regional newspaper La Provence, which
printed images of the duchess in her swimwear, to pay 3,000 euros in
damages during the hearing at the Tribunal de Grande Instance de
Nanterre.
A statement from Kensington Palace said: "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 judgement follows the trial of six people, including photographers and the former editor of Closer, which began in May.
All six defendants were convicted of charges relating to the taking and publication of the images.
A statement from Prince William was read at the trial in May.
The
duke said: "The clandestine way in which these photographs were taken
was particularly shocking to us as it breached our privacy."
The invasion of privacy was "all the more painful" given the experience of his mother, Princess Diana, with the paparazzi, he added.
BBC
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