Kate and William angered by 'grotesque' invasion of privacy

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-19595221


Kate and William angered by 'grotesque' invasion of privacy









The
Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are hugely saddened over the "grotesque
and unjustifiable invasion of privacy" by a magazine which published
topless photos of Kate, a royal spokesman says.
French publication Closer printed the pictures of the duchess, taken during their private holiday in France.


The royals are now considering legal action over the case.


The Closer editor says the couple were "visible from the street" and the images are "not in the least shocking".


The BBC's Nicholas Witchell said that the royals were
"incredulous that any magazine would have
"I have rarely heard quite such a level of publicly expressed anger that I have heard today reflecting William's feelings.
"He is absolutely determined to protect the privacy of his
wife, he has always been very protective of her and that anger has
mounted during the day."
Our correspondent said that the prince had a "look of
absolute thunder" on his face as they left Kuala Lumpur - a stop on
their nine-day tour of South East Asia - to travel to Sabah in north
Borneo.
Kate, meanwhile, "looked composed and was smiling", he said.


Closer editor Laurence Pieau said: "These photos are not in
the least shocking. They show a young woman sunbathing topless, like the
millions of women you see on beaches."
She described the reaction as "a little disproportionate".


"What we saw in the pictures was a young couple that have
just got married, who are in love, who are beautiful. She's a princess
of the 21st Century," said Pieau.
"They [the couple] are on the terrace of a mansion in the
south of France which is not far from a road along which cars pass
without any problem. They are visible from the street."
The photos look blurry, the BBC's Paris bureau said. There are four pages of photos of the couple, with Kate topless in several.


On the magazine's website, it says the pictures are of the
couple "like you have never seen them before. Gone are the fixed smiles
and the demure dresses. On holiday Kate forgets everything."


The duke and duchess, who were
staying at the French chateau of the Queen's nephew, Lord Linley, "have
been hugely saddened to learn that a French publication and a
photographer have invaded their privacy in such a grotesque and totally
unjustifiable manner", a spokesman for Clarence House, the Prince of
Wales's office, said.
"The incident is reminiscent of the worst excesses of the
press and paparazzi during the life of Diana, Princess of Wales, and all
the more upsetting to the duke and duchess for being so.
"Their Royal Highnesses had every expectation of privacy in
the remote house. It is unthinkable that anyone should take such
photographs, let alone publish them.
"Officials acting on behalf of their Royal Highnesses are
consulting with lawyers to consider what options may be available to the
duke and duchess."
The prime minister's official spokesman said: "The view from Downing Street is that they are entitled to their privacy."


The royal couple were told about the magazine's plan to
publish the photos during breakfast in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on their
tour to mark the Queen's Diamond Jubilee. They are now on their way to
north Borneo, where they are due to visit a rainforest.

CIn France they will tell you privacy laws that govern the
press are much tighter than they are in the UK. It's only half of the
truth.
While the French are sniffy about the tabloid culture in
Britain many celebrity magazines have been publishing these kind of
pictures for years.
France is the home of one of the oldest 'celebrity' magazines in the world - Paris Match.


But these days there are raunchier titles, like Closer, who unashamedly indulge in the celebrity gossip.


And they budget for the legal payouts which in this case are seemingly inevitable.


But for editors the fine is worth the risk.


And no doubt this latest edition of Closer will sell out,
there will be a bigger print run, a legal tussle to follow - but the end
result is a huge profit and priceless publicity.
Read more from Christian Fraser




It has emerged that British newspapers were offered photographs last week but turned them down.


BBC News reported that Lloyd Embley, editor of the Mirror and
Sunday Mirror, said they were offered a set of pictures of the duchess
in her bikini a week ago but, as with the pictures of Prince Harry, they
took the decision not to publish them.
In both cases they believed it would be a clear breach of the editors' code of practice involving breach of privacy.


The royal couple continued with their nine-day tour, which is
part of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee celebrations, on Friday by visiting
a mosque in Kuala Lumpur.
On Thursday, the duchess gave her first official speech abroad while visiting a hospice in the capital.


The emergence of the magazine photos follows the controversy
over the publication of pictures of a naked Prince Harry, Kate's
brother-in-law, which were taken in a Las Vegas hotel room last month.
The images first emerged on entertainment gossip website TMZ in the US before going global.


However, the Sun was the only British newspaper to defy the
wishes of St James's Palace and print them after the palace had warned
that the photos breached Harry's privacy.

The Chateau D'Aulet where the royal couple spent their private holiday

The tabloid printed two photographs, believed to have been
taken on a camera phone, of the prince with a naked woman. It argued
that its action was in the public interest.
The Press Complaints Commission said it received hundreds of
complaints from members of the public but did not act because it had not
been contacted by representatives of the prince.
Closer is not run by the same company as the British title;
it is administered by Italian business Mondadori, owned by former
president Silvio Berlusconi's holding company Fininvest.
A statement from the UK magazine said: "We were not offered
any pictures of this nature and have no intention of publishing the
photographs of the Duchess of Cambridge which have been published this
morning."