A French court has given maximum fines to 2 gossip magazine
executives for publishing topless photos of the Duchess of Cambridge.
The court in a Paris suburb ruled
on Tuesday that 3 photographers & 3 newspaper executives invaded the privacy of Kate Middleton by taking &publishing the photos.
Even though maximum fines were given, limited damages were
awarded in the case that outraged the royal family.
Two executives of a French gossip magazine & 2 photographers
working with a photo agency were collectively ordered to pay 50,000 Euros in
damages to Kate & the same amount
to her husband, Prince William .
The amount is well below the 1.5 million Euros in damages
that were allegedly sought by the royal couple.
The couple, who did not attend the verdict hearing, had
filed a complaint after the photos were published in gossip magazine Closer & a regional newspaper in 2012, the year after their wedding.
The photos of Kate
were taken with telephoto lenses while she & her husband actually were
sunbathing on a patio at a private estate in France 's
southern Provence region.