Topless Kate Middleton photos: French court bans future publication

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have been granted an injuction against the republication of topless photos of Catherine. Picture: Danny Lawson/PA Wire

Sarah Shaffi Tuesday, September 18, 2012
11:38 AM

A court in France has ruled that photos showing the Duchess of Cambridge topless cannot be republished.

The court ruled that France’s Closer magazine cannot republish or distribute photographs showing the Duchess of Cambridge sunbathing topless while on holiday with Prince William.

The court has also ordered the magazine to hand over all the pictures within 24 hours.

Closer France will be fined for every breach of the ruling, and will also face a daily fine of 10,000 euros, around £8,000, if it fails to produce the photos.

The ruling said: “These snapshots which showed the intimacy of a couple, partially naked on the terrace of a private home, surrounded by a park several hundred metres from a public road, and being able to legitimately assume that they are protected from passers-by, are by nature particularly intrusive.

“(They) were thus subjected to this brutal display the moment the cover appeared.”

Italian magazine Chi, owned by Italian publishing group Montedori which also owns French Closer, has published a 26-page spread with the topless pictures, which were taken while the royal couple were holidaying at a chateau in Provence owned by the Queen’s nephew Lord Linley.

And the Irish Daily Star also used the pictures, but the ruling only applies to France.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are currently on a Jubilee tour of the South Pacific and the Far East.

The case is the first of two legal actions by the royals. In a reflection of just how intent they are on protecting their privacy - and also dissuading paparazzi from future ventures - St. James’s Palace has said family lawyers would be filing a criminal complaint.