In late March and early April of this year, the Prince and Princess of Wales took their three children on a ski vacation in Courchevel, France. Reportedly, they borrow a family friend’s ski chalet quite regularly during the ski season, and their holiday in March/April was their third ski trip in four months. They also vacationed in Mustique during that same four-month period. What was notable about the March/April ski trip is that Paris Match published photos of the vacation – some photos of William clutching a bottle of wine on the balcony of the chalet and some pics of Kate and the kids skiing. Immediately, huffy royalists claimed that William and Kate would probably sue Paris Match over the photos, but we never heard anything nailed down. Well, it looks like the huffy royalists were correct. Will and Kate did sue. And then won. Only… look closely at what they won.
The Prince and Princess of Wales have won a legal battle after suing a French magazine over a “grossly intrusive article and long-lens paparazzi photographs”. The pictures, published by Paris Match, showed William and Kate as well as their three children Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis enjoying a holiday in the Alps in April.
Now, the publication has been ordered to acknowledge the breach of privacy in its magazine and pay William and Kate’s legal costs in France.
Compensation had been sought but the Prince and Princess of Wales told the court they wanted the publication of a “judicial notice” instead. A French Court has instructed the publication to publish the notice acknowledging the breach of privacy, with a penalty of €10,000 per issue until compliance.
A Kensington Palace spokesperson said: “Their Royal Highnesses The Prince and Princess of Wales, have been successful in legal proceedings brought in France against the owner of Paris Match, which published a grossly intrusive article and long-lens paparazzi photographs of their private family holiday in the Alps in April. The ruling affirms that, notwithstanding their public duties as members of The Royal Family, Their Royal Highnesses and their children are entitled to respect for their private lives and family time, without unlawful interference and intrusion.”
“The Prince and Princess of Wales are committed to protecting their private family time and ensuring that their children can grow up without undue scrutiny and interference. They will not hesitate to take such action as is necessary to enforce those boundaries.”
What did they win, exactly? Paris Match pays their legal costs and Paris Match has to publish what amounts to an acknowledgement of “breach of privacy.” It doesn’t sound like some huge legal victory. For what it’s worth, you can make an argument, for sure, that the photos around the chalet, especially the balcony/deck pics, are a breach of privacy. But the photos of Kate and the kids skiing in public are not a breach of privacy. To me, it feels insanely high-handed to cry about “privacy” when they’re literally skiing in public, and a French tabloid is reporting the basics of their ski trip. I bet none of the royal-reporters will claim that William and Kate are “privacy-obsessed” either. Anyway, in case this wasn’t clear – William and Kate were furious that one of their four vacations in four months’ time was outed by a French tabloid. They believe that they should be able to control international publications the same way they control the British media.
Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Cover Images.
