William, Kate lawsuit seeks $1.6 million for topless photos

Deutsche Presse-Agentur

PARIS — Attorneys for the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are seeking $1.64 million in compensation from a French magazine that published topless photos of Kate in 2012.

Closer magazine published photos of William and Kate while they were on holiday at a private residence in Provence in southeastern France.

The photos were taken with a telephoto lens without the royal couple’s knowledge.

A representative of the magazine and two photographers are on trial in a Paris court where the defense Tuesday accused them of a breach of privacy, the French news agency AFP reported.

Lawyers for Kate and William told the court they were demanding $1.64 million in damages, AFP reported.

The two photographers told the court they had not taken the photos in question.

In a statement to the court read out in French, William called the decision to publish the topless photographs of his wife “particularly shocking” given his late mother Diana’s battles with the paparazzi, Britain’s Press Association reported.

A ruling is expected on July 4.

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