French magazine fined for topless photos

Tue, September 18, 2012 - 10:06 AM

(CNN) -- A French magazine has been fined for publishing topless photographs of Britain's likely future queen, Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, and ordered not to distribute the magazine in print or online, a French court ruled today.

The court ordered Closer magazine to hand over the original photos to the royal family within 24 hours of the ruling and to pay them 2,000 euros (about $2,600).

The magazine must pay a further 10 000 euros a day if it is late in handing over the photos.

And a French prosecutor opened a preliminary criminal investigation into the incident, the Nanterre prosecutor's office said today.

Catherine and her husband, Prince William, the second in line to the throne, "welcome the injunction that's been granted. They always believed the law was broken and that they were entitled to their privacy," the palace said.

French law provides for "draconian sanctions" to protect against invasions of privacy, British lawyer Charlotte Harris said, including orders to take magazines off shelves and the imposition of serious fines.

Separately, the board of a newspaper that published the topless photos is conducting an internal investigation. The board of the Irish Daily Star was considering shutting down the newspaper but decided to await the investigation results, which are expected in "a few weeks."