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1Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches2Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors3Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteThe 2017 French trial concerned long-lens photographs of Catherine, then Duchess of Cambridge, sunbathing during a private holiday in Provence. A Nanterre court ruled that their publication by Closer invaded the privacy of Catherine and Prince William, awarding the couple €100,000 in damages and interest and imposing separate fines on individuals. In 2018, an appeals court dismissed the appeals and upheld the key fines.
What happened in the case?
In summer 2012, photographs were taken of Catherine and William on the terrace beside a swimming pool at a private chateau in the Luberon region of Provence. The property belonged to Viscount Linley, a relative of the royal family. The images were taken with an ultra-long lens while the couple were on holiday, according to the official Leveson Inquiry report.
On 14 September 2012, the French magazine Closer published the photographs. A week earlier, La Provence had published a swimsuit photograph of Catherine at the same property. The later criminal proceedings focused on the intimate images and the roles of those involved in taking or publishing them. The case was about a private holiday, not a public engagement.
What did the 2017 trial decide?
Six people were tried in Nanterre in proceedings concerning invasion of privacy or complicity. On 5 September 2017, the court ordered €100,000 in damages and interest for the couple. That award was distinct from the criminal fines imposed on individuals.
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| Person or group | 2017 outcome |
|---|---|
| Laurence Pieau, Closer editor, and Ernesto Mauri, a Mondadori executive | €45,000 fine each; The Guardian described these as the maximum fines allowed at the time. |
| Two photographers for a Paris picture agency | €10,000 fine each, with half suspended. |
| Valerie Suau, La Provence photographer | €1,000 suspended fine. |
| Marc Auburtin, La Provence director at the time | €1,500 suspended fine; he and Suau were also jointly ordered to pay €3,000 in damages. |
These amounts and outcomes were reported in The Guardian’s coverage of the 2017 judgment. The couple’s damages award should not be added to, or confused with, the individual criminal fines.
Why did Closer publish the images, and what was the privacy argument?
At the original trial, Closer’s lawyers argued that the photographs served a public interest by countering rumors that Catherine might be anorexic. That was the defense’s justification, not the court’s reported finding.
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The privacy case rested on the circumstances: the photographs showed the couple at a private property during a holiday and were taken clandestinely with a powerful lens. A statement read in court on William’s behalf described the way the pictures were taken as particularly shocking and as a breach of privacy. It also connected the experience to the paparazzi harassment of his mother, Diana, Princess of Wales.
At the appeal, prosecutor Marc Brisset-Foucault called it “an absolutely unacceptable breach, not only of the privacy and the private lives of these two individuals, but also of the dignity of a woman,” as quoted in Reuters coverage republished by Investing.com.
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What happened on appeal?
On 19 September 2018, the Versailles appeals court dismissed the appeals and upheld the €45,000 fines against Pieau and Mauri, along with the photographers’ fines. Contemporary reporting said the €100,000 damages award also remained in place. The defense had argued that the fines were excessive for a privacy case; the appeal court did not overturn the key penalties. The outcome was reported by The Guardian and Reuters via Investing.com.
Why the case became a press-ethics example
The Leveson Inquiry placed the episode in a broader discussion of privacy and editorial judgment. Its report records that UK newspapers declined to publish the images and that the British press condemned Closer’s publication as a breach of privacy. It draws a useful distinction: something may interest the public without being in the public interest.
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The report also reproduces a sentence from a Sunday Times editorial: “Editors of British newspapers did not need the threat of privacy laws or even Lord Justice Leveson’s inquiry to know not to publish these pictures.” That is the editorial’s wording, reproduced in the inquiry report, rather than a finding by Leveson himself.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Who was involved, and what this case does not establish
For the period covered by the litigation, Catherine and William were the Duchess and Duke of Cambridge. Catherine is now commonly styled the Princess of Wales; using the historical titles for the 2012–2018 events avoids projecting present titles backward.
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The reporting cited here does not establish the full text of the French judgment or its statutory reasoning, so this account does not attribute specific French legal provisions to the court. Nor is this the separate Paris Match case about photographs of the family skiing, reported in 2025; that is a different privacy dispute.
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