French court decision on topless photos due today
Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, waves to locals as she boards a plane at Honiara International Airport September 18, 2012. — Reuters picsNANTERRE, Sept 18 — A French court will rule today whether to grant an injunction sought by Prince William and his wife Kate, Duchess of Cambridge, against magazine Closer to prevent further publication of topless photos of her.
In a case that has rocked Britain and reawakened debate on privacy laws, lawyers for the royal couple are seeking damages from Closer and have filed a separate complaint against a photographer that could lead to a criminal case.
French lawyer Aurelien Hamelle, who represents William and Kate, leaves the courts in Nanterre, near Paris, September 17, 2012.The couple have sought an injunction to stop Closer from selling its photographs to any other media, including on the Internet, after the Irish Daily Star reprinted the photographs in its Saturday edition.
The publisher of the Dublin tabloid said yesterday evening it had suspended its editor over the newspaper’s decision to publish pages from Closer with the photographs.
Independent Star, publisher of the Irish Daily Star, said in a statement that the newspaper’s editor, Michael O’Kane, had been suspended with immediate effect after a meeting between its two shareholders yesterday pending an investigation into the circumstances of the publication of the photos.
The British press have agreed informally not to publish the pictures, which show the former Kate Middleton slipping off her bikini top, relaxing topless on a sun lounger and pulling down her bikini bottoms as her husband applies lotion.
An official at the court in Nanterre, near Paris, said the decision would be handed down today.
Copies of Closer’s Friday edition flew off the shelves in France, snapped up by collectors, British tourists and curious French readers as controversy over the photos raged.
Newspaper vendor Jeremy Alluard said his 30 copies of the magazine had sold out in an hour and a half.
A second vendor, Omar Abdel, said he had sold many copies to British tourists who explained they were unable to get hold of the weekly in Britain.
Buckingham Palace is also seeking damages from Closer’s publisher, Italian company Mondadori, which is owned by former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi.
Closer defended its publication of a dozen long-lens shots of the duchess sunbathing on the balcony of a secluded villa.
Italian gossip magazine Chi printed a 26-page special edition dedicated to the photos yesterday.
Editor Alfonso Signorini told Reuters the images were harmless and that the balcony where the Duchess was sunbathing was visible from the street. — Reuters
