Britain's Prince William and his wife Kate, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, smile as they watch a shark ceremony as they arrive at Marapa Island, Solomon Islands, Monday, Sept. 17, 2012. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft, Pool)
Britain's Prince William and his wife Kate, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, smile as they watch a shark ceremony as they arrive at Marapa Island, Solomon Islands, Monday, Sept. 17, 2012. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft, Pool)
French lawyer Delphine Pando for Closer magazine leaves the court in Nanterre, on the outskirts of Paris, Monday, Sept, 17, 2012 where lawyers for the British royal family sought an injunction against the Mondadori publishing house, owned by former Premier Silvio Berlusconi, which published a 26-page spread of topless photos of Prince William's wife Kate on Monday, to prevent further dissemination of the images. St. James's Palace said Sunday that family lawyers would file a criminal complaint against the unidentified photographer or photographers involved. The palace said it would be up to French prosecutors to decide whether to investigate and pursue a criminal case for breach of privacy or trespassing.(AP Photo/Francois Mori)
Britain's Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge, smiles as she and Prince William prepare to depart Honiara, Solomon Islands, Tuesday, Sept. 18, 2012, after an official visit to the South Pacific Island nation. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)
NANTERRE, France (AP) ? A French court ordered a magazine publisher to hand over all digital copies of topless photos of the Duchess of Cambridge within 24 hours and blocked further publication of what it called a "brutal display" of William and Kate's private moments.
Under the ruling Tuesday, the French gossip magazine Closer faces a daily fine of ?10,000 ($13,100) if it fails to hand over the photos taken during the royals' vacation in southern France and cannot disseminate them any further, including on its website and tablet app.
The magazine published 14 photos of a partially clad Kate in its pages on Friday.
But if the royal family had hoped to block international publication, it was too late. Publications in Ireland and Italy already went ahead with the topless photos. Tuesday's ruling only affects Montedori Magazines France, Closer's publisher. The publisher also faces a ?2,000 ($2,600) fine.
"These snapshots which showed the intimacy of a couple, partially naked on the terrace of a private home, surrounded by a park several hundred meters from a public road, and being able to legitimately assume that they are protected from passers-by, are by nature particularly intrusive," the French ruling decreed. "(They) were thus subjected to this brutal display the moment the cover appeared."
The photos show Prince William's wife Kate relaxing at a private villa in Provence, in southern France, sometimes without her bikini top and, in one case, her suit bottom partially pulled down to apply sunscreen.
The lawyer for Montedori failed to show up at the courthouse on Tuesday.
The case is the first of two legal actions by the British royals. In a reflection of just how intent they are on protecting their privacy ? and likely dissuading paparazzi from future ventures ? St. James's Palace has said family lawyers would be filing a criminal complaint.
Christopher Mesnooh, an American lawyer who works in Paris, said French law strongly protects privacy rights but tabloids have their own reasons for publication, even when they might be in violation of the law.
"It appears to give satisfaction entirely to the royal couple," Mesnooh said of Tuesday's ruling. "The problem with this kind of decision is the horse got out of the barn a long time ago."
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