William and Kate win privacy case against French magazine over family holiday photos

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LONDON (AP) — The Prince and Princess of Wales have won a legal case against a French magazine that published photos of the couple and their children on a skiing holiday, the royals’ office said Thursday.

William and Kate took action against Paris Match after it ran photos in April of them and their children George, Charlotte and Louis on a break in the French Alps. They were shown on the slopes and relaxing on a chalet balcony.

The latest edition of Paris Match includes a notice saying that a judge at the Nanterre Judicial Court had found that the images and an accompanying article “had infringed the respect due to their private life and the rights the Prince and Princess of Wales and their children have on their image.”

The couple’s Kensington Palace office said the magazine had published “a grossly intrusive article and long-lens paparazzi photographs of their private family holiday.”

“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,” the palace said in a statement. “They will not hesitate to take such action as is necessary to enforce those boundaries.”

The British media has largely abided by an agreement to give George, 12, Charlotte, 10 and 7-year-old Louis privacy in return for occasional authorized images. A similar arrangement was in place for William and his brother Prince Harry when they were younger.

International outlets have sometimes followed other rules.

William and Kate sued the French magazine Closer for publishing photos in 2012 of a topless Kate, snapped while the couple was holidaying at a private villa in southern France. After a long legal battle the royal couple was awarded tens of thousands of euros (dollars) in damages for breach of privacy.