Court orders Kate snaps handed over

A PARIS court has ordered French magazine Closer not to republish or resell topless pictures of Prince William's wife Kate - or face a penalty of up to €100,000.

The order specifically said the ban also covered "digital tablets".

President of the Tribunal de Grand Instance in the suburb of Nanterre (Hauts-de-Seine), Jean-Michel Hayat, said that the publication has been "particularly intrusive" and the use of the front cover a "brutal exposure".

The court has also ordered that all copies of the photographs and files should be given over to the royal couple's representatives within 24 hours - again, with a threat: a €10,000 fine for every day's delay.

Magazine publisher, Mondatori Magazines France, must also pay €2,000 damages for the peeping tom pictures which were taken while the couple were on a private holiday at Viscount Linley's Chateau d'Autet in Vaucluse.

The tribunal noted that the photos had been taken with a high-performance zoom from a public road several hundred metres from the chateau where the couple "could reasonably suppose they were sheltered from prying eyes".

Lawyers for William and wife Kate did not ask for copies already in shops to be seized.

They have already lodged a demand for a criminal investigation into the publication of the photos and a prosecutors this morning started an initial inquiry.

St James's Palace said the couple wanted a case to start against both the magazine and the photographer.
Photo: Pat Pilon