NANTERRE, France (AP) - The Latest on the French court case over media publication of topless photos of the Duchess of Cambridge (all times local):
5:00 p.m.
The office of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge says the British royal couple is pleased a French court ruled in their favor in a lawsuit over topless photographs of the former Kate Middleton sunbathing.
Kensington Palace said in a statement Tuesday that the matter is now closed.
The palace says the royals believed the publication of the photos amounted to a serious “breach of privacy” and that legal action should be pursued.
The duchess and her husband, Prince William, “wished to make the point strongly that this kind of unjustified intrusion should not happen.”
The court in a Paris suburb ruled Tuesday that three photographers and three newspaper executives invaded Kate’s privacy by taking and publishing the photos.
The timing of the ruling had particular resonance in Britain. Last week marked the 20th anniversary of the death of William’s mother, Princess Diana, who was being pursued by paparazzi before the car accident in which she was killed.
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2:20 p.m.
A French court has given maximum fines but awarded limited damages in the case of topless photos of the Duchess of Cambridge that outraged the British royal family.
The court in a Paris suburb ruled Tuesday that three photographers and three newspaper executives invaded the privacy of Kate Middleton by taking and publishing the photos.
Two executives of a French gossip magazine and two photographers working with a photo agency were collectively ordered to pay 50,000 euros ($59,500) in damages to Kate and the same amount to her husband, Prince William.
The amount is well below the 1.5 million euros in damages that were reportedly sought by the royal couple.
The couple, who didn’t attend the verdict hearing, had filed a complaint after the photos were published in gossip magazine Closer and a regional newspaper in 2012, the year after their wedding.
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11 a.m.
A French court is due to rule on whether three photographers and three newspaper executives invaded the privacy of the Duchess of Cambridge by taking and publishing topless photos of her that outraged the British royal family.
A prosecutor at a Paris suburb court has asked for high fines, and lawyers for Kate Middleton and her husband, Prince William, are seeking heavy damages.
The couple, who aren’t expected to attend the verdict hearing on Tuesday, had filed a complaint after the photos were published in a French gossip magazine and a regional newspaper in 2012, the year after their wedding.
The pictures of Kate were taken with telephoto lenses while she and her husband apparently were sunbathing on a patio at a private estate in France’s southern Provence region.
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