The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have been awarded more than 100,000 euro in damages following the publication of topless photographs of Kate almost five years ago.
France’s Closer Magazine was ordered to pay each of the couple 50,000 euro (£46,000) at a Paris court, for printing the long-lens images of Kate sunbathing on a terrace, after it was ruled they had breached her privacy.
The photos, taken as Kate holidayed with the Duke at a private chateau in Provence, southern France, adorned the front and inside pages of the publication in September 2012.
France’s Closer Magazine was ruled they had breached the Duchess of Cambridge’s privacy (Chris Jackson/PA)
Presiding judge Florence Lasserre-Jeannin also instructed regional newspaper La Provence, which printed images of the Duchess in her swimwear, to pay 3,000 euro (£2,700) in damages during the hearing at the Tribunal de Grande Instance de Nanterre.
At an earlier hearing, Paul-Albert Iweins, representing Closer Magazine, claimed Kate and William were hoping to claim a much larger 1.5 million euro (£1.3 million) in compensation.
Tuesday’s judgment follows the trial of six people, including three photographers, linked to Closer Magazine and La Provence, which began in May.
The judge convicted all six defendants of charges relating to the taking and publication of the images.
French lawyer Jean Veil represented the Royal Family. (AP)
Ernesto Mauri, 70, chief executive of publishing group Mondadori, which produces Closer, and Laurence Pieau, 51, editor of the magazine in France, were fined for their role in the invasion of privacy.
They both must pay the maximum penalty of 45,000 euro (£41,000).
The judgment comes just a week after the 20th anniversary of the death of Diana, Princess of Wales.
During the trial, the court was told William found the decision to publish the topless photographs “all the more painful” given his late mother’s battles with the paparazzi.
Journalists work outside the courtroom. (AP)
In a written statement read by the couple’s lawyer, Jean Veil, the Duke said: “The clandestine way in which these photographs were taken was particularly shocking to us as it breached our privacy.”
Agency photographers Cyril Moreau and Dominique Jacovides, who had denied taking the topless photos at the centre of the controversy, were told to each pay 10,000 euro (£9,200) – 5,000 euro (£4,600) of which is suspended.
Marc Auburtin, 57, who was La Provence’s publishing director at the time, was handed a suspended fine of 1,500 euro (£1,380), while the paper’s photographer, Valerie Suau, 53, was given a 1,000 euro (£920) suspended penalty.
Reporters wait outside the courtroom before the ruling. (AP)
The publication of the images prompted a fierce reaction at the time, with St James’s Palace stating they were “reminiscent of the worst excesses of the press and paparazzi during the life of Diana, Princess of Wales”.
William and Kate launched their own legal proceedings in 2012 and a court in Paris banned Closer, which is separate from the UK’s Closer magazine, from printing any further images.