Palace to file criminal complaint over photos
LONDON — Lawyers for Britain’s royal family will make a criminal complaint against the photographer who took pictures of Prince William’s wife Kate sunbathing topless in the south of France, William’s office said Sunday.
The palace has already launched a civil lawsuit against France’s Closer magazine, which published the paparazzi snaps of Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge, relaxing during a holiday at a private villa in Provence.
The couple is hitting back hard against publication of the pictures, which William’s office called a “grotesque” abuse of the young royals’ privacy.
A spokeswoman for William’s St. James’s Palace office said the couple’s lawyers would file a complaint with French prosecutors on Monday against the unidentified photographer or photographers involved.
“The complaint concerns the taking of photographs of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge whilst on holiday and the publication of those photographs in breach of their privacy,” she said on condition of anonymity in keeping with palace policy.
The palace said it would be up to French prosecutors to decide whether to investigate and pursue a criminal complaint for breach of privacy or trespassing.
The couple’s lawyers are already due in a Paris court Monday seeking an injunction against Closer’s publisher, the Italian media group Mondadori. It also publishes Italy’s Chi gossip magazine, which says it will publish 26 pages of the images on Monday.
The palace will seek damages from the publisher, which is owned by former Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi.
The palace said it was considering “all proportionate responses” against Chi, though no decision has been made on legal action against it or the Irish Daily Star which reproduced the Closer photos on Saturday.
No British publication has run the pictures, and Britain’s tabloids have lined up to denounce them as an invasion of the duchess’ privacy.
The strong response stands in contrast to the reception of naked photos of Prince Harry partying in Las Vegas, which appeared online last month and were later published in Britain’s Sun tabloid. The palace shrugged off the photos, snapped during a game of strip billiards, and took no action against those who published them.