French magazine ordered to hand over Kate Middleton photos
Court moves to block 'brutal display' of topless pictures
In 2012, photos were published by a French gossip magazine of Kate Middleton sunbathing topless, outraging the royal family. The invasion of privacy case that stemmed from those pictures has finally made it to court and three photographers appeared in a French court today to begin a trial pertaining to the controversial snapshots.
The photos were published a year after Kate Middleton married Prince William. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge didn't attend the trial outside Paris on Tuesday.
The pictures of Kate were taken during their summer vacation in France's southern Provence region in a remote home.
At the time, the royals called the images a "grotesque and totally unjustifiable" invasion of Kate's privacy.
"It is unthinkable that anyone should take such photographs, let alone publish them," a St. James's Palace official stated at the time. "... We feel a line has been crossed with their publication."
The owner and executive editor of celebrity magazine Closer also are being tried along with the former publisher of a French regional newspaper that also ran the photos. None of the executives attended.
Neither the photographers nor lawyers for the defendants and the royal plaintiffs commented when they arrived for the trial.
A verdict is expected at a later date.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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