Privacy edit
A few years before she and William met, the duchess' mother-in-law, Diana, Princess of Wales, died in a road accident in Paris while pursued by paparazzi. Both the duchess and her husband are clear in their expectation that when they are "off-duty" their privacy should be respected.
In 2009, before she was married, she was awarded £10,000 damages and an apology against the photographic press agency Rex Features Ltd after she was photographed playing tennis on Christmas Eve when on holiday in Cornwall.[1]
On 14 September 2012 the French edition of "la presse people" magazine Closer publisher a photograph of the Duchess bathing topless while she was on holiday at the Château d'Autet (a private château on a 260 ha estate some 71 km[2] north of Aix-en-Provence). Analysts from The Times believe that the photograph was taken from the D22 (Vaucluse) road from a distance of 500 m from the pool - a distance that would require a 800 mm or a 1000 mm lense.[3] On 17 September 2012 the couple laid a criminal complaint to the French Prosecution Department and launched a claim for civil damages at the Tribunal de Grande Instance de Nanterre on 17 September 2012.[4] Under French law, such intrusions of privacy are a criminal offence carrying a maximum jail sentence of one year and a fine of up to €45,000 for individuals and €225,000 for companies.[5][6]
References edit
- ^ Gillespie, James; Borneo, Kate Mansey; Luberon, John Follain (16 September 2012). "Nowhere to hide: Palace v press". The Sunday Times.
{{cite news}}:|access-date=requires|url=(help) - ^ As measured using www.viamichelin.co.uk.
- ^ Malvern, Jack; Connolly, Sue (15 September 2012). "Spying photographers may have taken their shots of a secluded chateau from the road". The Times. pp. 6–7.
- ^ "Kate and William to make criminal complaint over topless shots". British Broadcasting Corporation. 16 September 2012. Retrieved 16 September 2012.
- ^ "French Legislation on Privacy". Embassy of France in Washington. 2 December 2007. Retrieved 16 September 2012.
- ^ Schofield, Hugh (17 September 2012). "Kate topless pictures: Criminal and legal cases". British Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 17 September 2012.