Kate Middleton topless photo case: French court orders fines
Fox411: A French court has ordered that three photographers and three newspaper executives pay a collective $226,000 in damages to Kate Middleton and her husband Prince William
A French court has ordered the paparazzi to pay up, but not as much as the royal family had hoped.
A court in a Paris suburb ruled Tuesday that three photographers and three newspaper executives invaded the privacy of the Duchess of Cambridge by snapping and publishing topless photos of her without her knowledge in 2012.
The defendants will pay damages to Kate Middleton and her husband Prince William, but the amount was significantly lower than that sought by the royal couple.
The pair were seeking $1.8 million (1.5 million euros) in damages, but the court ordered the two executives along with two photographers working with a celebrity photo agency to collectively pay $59,500 to Middleton and the same amount to William.
Two executives of French gossip magazine Closer were each given the maximum $53,500 fine for such an offense.
Paul-Albert Iweins, lawyer for Closer magazine, called the fines exaggerated.
The couple, who didn't attend the verdict, had filed a complaint after the photos were published in Closer and a regional newspaper in 2012, the year after their wedding.
The pictures of Kate were taken with telephoto lenses while she and her husband apparently were sunbathing on a patio at a private estate in France's southern Provence region.
Reps for Closer and the royal couple did not immediately respond to Fox News' request for comment.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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