Prince William and Princess Kate Win Lawsuit Over ‘Intrusive’ Long-Lens Photographs
Prince William and Princess Kate Middleton have won a lawsuit over “long-lens paparazzi photographs” taken of them on a family vacation.
The Prince and Princess of Wales launched legal action against French magazine Paris Match days after it published photographs of them and their children on a private family ski holiday in April.
In a series of photographs that appeared in Paris Match, the royal couple and their children Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis, were seen on their holiday at a French ski resort in the Alps.
A spokesperson for Kensington Palace confirmed this month that the Prince and Princess of Wales had won their privacy case against Paris Match. The French court ruled that the magazine had violated the couple’s and their children’s privacy and image rights. Paris Match was ordered to cover the couple’s legal costs in France.
Lawyers for the Prince and Princess told the court that the couple preferred the publication of the notice acknowledging the breach over additional compensation. Paris Match subsequently printed the statement, which confirms that its article “had infringed the respect due to their private life and the rights the Prince and Princess of Wales and their children have on their image.”
“Their Royal Highnesses The Prince and Princess of Wales have been successful in legal proceedings brought in France against the owner of Paris Match, which published a grossly intrusive article and long-lens paparazzi photographs of their private family holiday in the Alps in April,” a Kensington Palace spokesperson says in a statement, according to the BBC.
“The ruling affirms that, notwithstanding their public duties as members of the Royal Family, Their Royal Highnesses and their children are entitled to respect for their private lives and family time, without unlawful interference and intrusion.”
The Kensington Palace spokesperson says that the royal couple would not hesitate to act again if necessary.
“The Prince and Princess of Wales are committed to protecting their private family time and ensuring that their children can grow up without undue scrutiny and interference,” the spokesperson adds. “They will not hesitate to take such action as is necessary to enforce those boundaries.”
The latest decision follows an earlier legal victory in 2017, when the couple were awarded $87,814 (€100,000) in damages after the French magazine Closer published topless photographs of Catherine sunbathing on a private terrace. The images, taken during a 2012 holiday in Provence, France, were found to be a serious invasion of privacy. The court also charged the photographer who took the images as well as Closer’s editor.
Image credits: Header photo licensed via Depositphotos.
