NANTERRE, France – A French court was asked on Monday to halt further publication of topless photos of Prince William’s wife, Kate.
After hearing arguments by lawyers for the British royal couple and for the popular French gossip magazine Closer, the court said it would rule at noon on Tuesday. The royal request was made after Closer printed 14 pictures of the partially unclad Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge, in its pages last week.
Additional Photos
On Monday, the Italian gossip magazine Chi — like Closer, owned by Mondadori, the Italian publishing house owned by former Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi — published a 26-page spread of photos of Kate without her swimsuit top. An Irish tabloid published more Kate topless photos over the weekend, drawing a vow from Ireland’s justice minister to revise privacy laws there.
The photos in question show the Duchess of Cambridge relaxing during a holiday at a private villa in Provence, sometimes without her bathing suit top and, in one case, her suit bottom partially pulled down to apply sun screen.
Lawyers for the royal couple argue that the photos amount to an invasion of privacy.
The royal couple’s lawyer, Aurelien Hamelle, told the French court Monday that he is seeking the euro equivalent of $6,550 in damages from Closer and an injunction forcing the magazine to stop publishing the issue with the photos. He also asked the court to fine Closer $13,100 a day for each day the injunction is not respected, and $131,000 if the photos are sold.
Closer lawyer Delphine Pando noted that the photos are not the magazine’s to sell. “We are not the owners of these photos,” she said. “The photos are out there. If a TV show wants to show an image of this (magazine) edition, it’s got nothing to do with us.”
Probation hearing for singer Chris Brown postponed
LOS ANGELES – Chris Brown’s probation hearing was pushed back to give authorities more time to complete a probation report in the singer’s assault case.
The R&B singer had been scheduled to appear in court on Monday for the first time in more than a year, but the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office says the proceedings are being delayed for a week.
A judge has ordered an audit of Brown’s community service after a prosecutor said there were some questions about how many hours he had actually performed.
Brown is on probation for the 2009 beating of his then-girlfriend Rihanna and had been ordered to perform six months’ worth of community service, including graffiti removal, roadside cleanup and other manual labor.
Case closed over Palin grandchild
JUNEAU, Alaska – A custody case over one of Sarah Palin’s grandchildren has been closed.
State court records show the case between Bristol Palin and Levi Johnston involving their son, Tripp, was closed earlier this month after a lack of activity.
Johnston attorney Rex Butler says the best way to interpret this is that the parties are likely to work out their differences on their own.
In 2010, Bristol Palin and Johnston agreed Bristol would have primary physical custody and the two would share legal custody, subject to Bristol’s resolution if they couldn’t agree.
Bristol Palin and Tripp appeared on the recent Lifetime series “Bristol Palin: Life’s a Tripp,” in which Johnston’s presence in his son’s life, or lack thereof, was part of the story line. The website TMZ last month reported Johnston wanted full custody.
An attorney for Bristol Palin didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Italian mag goes Closer 12 better
ROME – An Italian gossip magazine owned by former Premier Silvio Berlusconi published a 26-page spread of topless photos of Prince William’s wife Kate on Monday despite legal action in France against the French magazine that published them first.
Chi hit newsstands on Monday, featuring a montage of photos taken while the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge were on vacation at a relative’s home in the south of France last month. They included the 14 pictures published by the popular French magazine Closer, which like Chi is owned by Berlusconi’s Mondadori publishing house.
But the Chi spread ran the whole sequence of photos as the couple sunbathed on a terrace, including one shot of the princess putting sun cream on her backside that didn’t appear in Closer.
Chi editor Alfonso Signorini told The Associated Press over the weekend that he didn’t fear legal action since the photos were already in the public domain following Closer’s publication.
— From news service reports
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