Danish magazine Se og Hoer is set to publish topless photos of Kate, Duchess of Cambridge . Picture: AFP Source: AFP
Police have raided the offices of French magazine Closer in the hunt for the photographer who took topless pictures of the Duchess of Cambridge.
Detectives confirmed they were looking for evidence at Closer?s Paris headquarters "which might lead to the identity" of the paparazzi photographer responsible.
But as they searched for evidence a Swedish magazine announced it was publishing the intimate photographs and its sister publication in Denmark said it would do the same later this week.
The unauthorised photos have already been widely published in France, Italy, Ireland and on the Internet, despite efforts by Prince William and his wife Kate to halt their usage.
The latest publication in Sweden's Se & Hor came as French police opened a criminal investigation into whether the photos - which first appeared in an edition of the French Closer magazine - were an invasion of privacy.
"It is nothing new to us to publish nude photos of celebrities on holiday," said Carina Lofkvist, the chief editor of the Swedish magazine.
She said actresses Demi Moore and Sharon Stone have done it and model Kate Moss have previously appeared half-naked in the magazine.
"No one complains when they do and we print the photos," Lofkvist said.
Closer did however hand over files with the images to the royal couple's representatives overnight, a source close to the matter said.
The files were given after a French court ordered the magazine to present all forms of the pictures to the British royals within 24 hours or face a 10,000-euro ($12,500) fine for every day's delay.
Closer has said it does not own the images and simply bought them for exclusive first use, so it likely does not possess all the original files. It has refused to say from whom it bought them and who the photographer is.
With French authorities so far unable to discover the name of the person who took the photographs at a chateau in the south of France, there is no injunction banning him or her selling the pictures in France or around the world.
Christophe Bigot, a barrister who specialises in media law, questioned the legality of the Paris raid - suggesting it had been authorised solely because members of the Royal Family were involved.
Journalistic sources, including photographers, are strictly protected by French law.
?A law of January 2, 2010, protects the confidentiality of sources, as do numerous decisions of the European Court of Human Rights,? said Mr Bigot. ?In the case of William and Kate, I do not see how a prosecutor could justify a search of Closer.?
A police source close to the case said the raid - carried out by officers from the Paris Judicial Police working under the instructions of prosecutors - had been authorised by a ?judicial request? for information, specifically the name of the photographer involved.
Meanwhile Denmark's Se & Hoer will publish the pictures in a 16-page supplement, said chief editor Kim Henningsen. He said the magazine had been offered 240 pictures but decided only to use 60 to 70 of them. He declined to say who sold them to the weekly or how much money they paid.
"Our readers love to follow the lives of the royals and they want scoops. I am therefore incredibly proud that we have obtained the rights to provide the topless pictures of Britain's future queen - which the whole world is talking about but very few have actually seen," Mr Henningsen said on the website.
In France, a court ordered police to obtain information on Closer magazine employees after the British royal couple filed the criminal complaint Monday.
Marie-Christine Daubigney, assistant prosecutor for the Nanterre court, outside Paris, said she had instructed police to get the names of some Closer employees, including the journalist who wrote the article.
She said she hadn't told police to identify the photographer who took the pictures because that will be part of a later investigation. The photographer trained a long lens on the royal couple as they sunbathed on a private estate in southern France.
Ms Daubigney denied as "completely untrue" French and English media reports that police raided Closer magazine headquarters.
Meanwhile, a spokeswoman for St James's Palace, the office of Prince William and Catherine, said that their response to the publication of the pictures in the Danish magazine was the same as to the publication in Italy.
"As we've said, we will not be commenting on potential legal action concerning the alleged intended publication of the photos save to say that all proportionate responses will be kept under review," a spokeswoman said.
News of latest twist in the nude photos scandal comes just a day after the royal couple briefly touched down in Brisbane on their way home from their South Pacific tour.
Their nine-day tour included a visit to the tiny island of Tuvalu where the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge both performed a traditional Polynesian dance in grass skirts.
With AP, AFP
0 comments:
Post a Comment