Kate Middleton wins topless photo case against Closer magazine

KATE Middleton has won her legal battle against a magazine that published topless photos of her while she once holidayed in the south of France.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, Prince George and Princess Charlotte. Picture: Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire

A FRENCH court has ruled celebrity magazine Closer invaded the privacy of Britain’s Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton, when it published topless photos of her in 2012.

The court handed the maximum fine of 45,000 euros ($A66,776) to both Laurence Pieau, an editor of Closer’s French edition, and Ernesto Mauri, chief executive of Italian publisher Mondadori, the magazine’s owner.

Closer magazine, a weekly roundup of gossip about the rich and famous, published a series of photos of Middleton, the wife of Prince William, second-in-line to the British throne, topless while on holiday in southern France. The court ruling followed an announcement on Monday that the royal couple, a subject of fascination for many in Britain and other parts of the world, are expecting a third child.

Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, opens The Clore Art Room at Barlby Primary School in London. Picture: Getty

The office of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge said the British royal couple was pleased with the ruling and that the matter is now closed. Kensington Palace said the royals believed the publication of the photos amounted to a serious “breach of privacy” and that legal action should be pursued.

The Duchess and her husband, Prince William, “wished to make the point strongly that this kind of unjustified intrusion should not happen”.

Two photographers from a Paris agency, who denied taking the photographs, were ordered to pay smaller fines after also being convicted under French privacy laws.

French lawyer Jean Veil representing the British royal family, leaves the court. Picture: Getty

The damages ordered by the court looked well short of the 1.5 million euros sought by the royal couple, who filed the suit for what they called at the time a “grotesque” breach of privacy.

The photos were taken as the royal couple relaxed on a balcony of a chateau in the picturesque Luberon region of southeastern France.

Reporters film inside the courtroom before the court ruled on the case involving the Duchess of Cambridge. Picture: AP

The pictures rekindled memories for some in Britain of the media pursuit of William’s mother, Princess Diana, who died in a car crash in Paris in 1997 while being chased at high speed by paparazzi.

Closer magazine’s lawyers had sought to justify publication of the photos on public interest grounds, saying they disproved rumours circulating at the time that Middleton might be anorexic.

Jean Veil, a prominent French lawyer hired by the Duchess of Cambridge, said during the trial the article that accompanied the photos was only a pretext for publishing the pictures.