Tuesday 18 September 2012

Victory for Kate and William in historic French court case as judge blocks further publication of magazine's 'intimate' topless photos...

Having a ball: After her giggling fit yesterday, the Duke and Duchess were again in good spirits after arriving in Tuvalu
Thrilled: The giggling Royal couple will be over the moon as they end their Jubilee tour as their lawyers won a landmark injunction in a Parisian court today.

Hello Friends!

Kate and William have won a landmark legal case to block further publication of ‘highly intimate’ topless photographs of the Duchess of Cambridge.
The Royal couple's lawyers have successfully secured an injunction from a French court preventing the images being spread across the globe by the owners of Closer - the first to publish the naked pictures.
It is a sensational victory for the Duke and Duchess with the judge today hitting the French magazine with a series of strict punishments for the breach of privacy.

'They welcome the injunction that's been granted, they always believed the law was broken and that they were entitled to their privacy,' a source close to the couple told MailOnline.

The ruling in Paris this morning means: 
  • Closer France must not print any more copies of its controversial issue and take the topless pictures off its website
  • The photos cannot be published in any other magazines or papers in France
  • The photographs cannot be sold by them to anyone else in the world
  • Within 24 hours the offending pictures must be handed over to the Palace
  • Closer would get a 10,000 euro daily fine each time they sell them on or publish them
  • They will receive the same fine if they don't hand over all images by midday tomorrow
  • Legal fees of 2,000 euros handed to the Duke and Duchess
At the start of the unprecedented court case in Paris, barrister Aurelien Hammelle evoked memories of Princess Diana’s ordeal at the hands of paparazzi as he said a photographer had violated Kate’s privacy, adding she is a ‘young woman, not an object’.

Judges today agreed the magazine must 'give back' the equipment on which the digital photos were stored and banned the images from sale in France or abroad within 24 hours. Legal fees of 2,000 euros were also awarded to the Royal couple.
Closer magazine will now have to pay a 10,000 euros daily fine if photos of the Duchess of Cambridge are re-published or sold on.

The Duke and Duchess have also filed a criminal complaint under France’s privacy laws which could see Closer fined up 36,000 pounds and its editor serve up to a year in prison. And they have filed against ‘persons unknown’, referring to the photographer, who has not yet been identified.

Historic: This is the first time Royals have sued over privacy, and the ruling, pictured, went entirely in the Royal couple's favour
Historic: This is the first time Royals have sued over privacy, and the ruling, pictured, went entirely in the Royal couple's favour.

Triggering the storm: French magazine Closer was the first to publish the naked pictures of the duchessAurelien Hammelle, the French lawyer instructed by Royals William and Kate to fight against further publication of her topless photos
Triggering the storm: French magazine Closer (left) was the first to publish the naked pictures of the Duchess. Now Aurelien Hammelle (right), the French lawyer, has successfully challenged them in court.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are suing the French Closer magazine for printing semi-naked pictures of Kate last week.
It is the first time that a member of the Royal Family has sued a publication through the courts in France.
Yesterday their lawyer Mr Hammelle accused the magazine of intruding on a ‘highly intimate moment’ by taking the topless pictures of Kate while she was on a private holiday at a chateau in Provence.

The lawyer compared the ‘grotesque invasion’ to the relentless pursuit of Princess Diana by photographers.
The photographer responsible should be prosecuted, the Royals say.
Mr Hammelle said the pictures of the Duchess were taken ‘just six days after the 15th anniversary of the useless, cynical and morbid hunt which led to the death of William’s mother’.

King and Queen for the day: William and Kate are carried on thrones after their arrival at Funafuti in Tuvalu today
King and Queen for the day: William and Kate are carried on thrones after their arrival at Funafuti in Tuvalu today as they await the judgment in Paris.


Culled from The Daily Mail UK.

xoxo
Simply Cheska...

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