The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, Prince William and Kate Middleton, are seeking $1.6 million (1.5 million Euros) in damages from a French magazine Closer after they published the topless photos of William and Kate in 2012.
In September 2012, the magazine created a controversy after publishing 14 topless and private photos of Kate sunbathing with William while they were holidaying in the South of France in their villa. After the French magazine, the uncensored photos of Kate were published in Irish and Italian magazines as well.
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The royal couple immediately launched legal action against the magazine for the invasion of privacy and in a relief, a French court banned Closer magazine from publishing the photos at that time.
In connection with 2012's legal action, six people associated with Closer magazine and the regional newspaper La Provence went under trial on Tuesday, the magazine's lawyer told the UK Press Association.
According to the Press Association, Laurence Pieau, Closer's France editor, Ernesto Mauri, chief executive of the publishing group that owns the magazine, Marc Auburtin, La Provence's publishing director in 2012, photographers Cyril Moreau and Dominique Jacovides and La Provence's photographer Valerie Suau are facing charges of invasion of privacy.
The Closer magazine's lawyer Paul-Albert Iweins said the photos were not a breach of privacy and in fact, it showed William and Kate "in a positive light."
During the trial, William's lawyer Jean Veil read a declaration that stated the magazine publishing topless photos of Kate was "shocking" giving the rocky relationship his late mother Princess Diana had with the paparazzi.
"In September 2012, my wife and I thought that we could go to France for a few days in a secluded villa owned by a member of my family, and thus enjoy our privacy... The clandestine way in which these photographs were taken was particularly shocking to us as it breached our privacy."
The verdict will be announced on July 4.
