London: Britain’s royals on Monday lodged a criminal complaint with French prosecutors over topless photographs of the Duchess of Cambridge Kate Middleton, demanding prison terms for the female photographer.
The lawyers for Prince William and Kate lodged the complaint with the prosecutor’s office in the Paris suburb of Nanterre, which also demands damages for the alleged breach of French privacy laws from both the ‘Closer’ magazine and its photographer. Though the identity of the photographer was not revealed by the publication, the British tabloid Daily Mail reported that the female photographer has gone into hiding.
The action by the British royal did not, however, stop the Italian magazine ‘Chi’ which splashed the pictures across a special 38-page edition. “The Queen is nude” screamed the headline of the Chi magazine which, undaunted by the lawsuit, reproduced the photos first published last week by the French magazine Closer, owned by the family of the former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi.
Lawyers for the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge argue that publication of photos of Kate sun-bathing semi naked at the Chataeu and of William rubbing suncream on her behind breach their privacy. Daily Mail said photographer Valerie Sau, nicknamed ‘Sewer’ had admitted taking pictures of a scantily clad Prince William and Kate on the terrace of a 15 million pound holiday retreat owned by Viscount Linley, the Queen’s nephew.
The royal couple has instructed Aurelien Hammelle, a Paris barrister, to call for the “stiffest punishment possible” against the magazine. Mail said this could include one year prison sentence for not only the photographer but also Closer’s editor. (PTI)