Whatever topless photos of Kate MiddletonCloser mag has in their possession, they need to hand them over within 24 hours. A French court ruled in favor of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and has put the kibosh on the gossip mag publishing any more photos of Middleton.
What is Closer risking by ignoring the court order? Not much, actually. They'll be fined 10,000 euro a day. Which is a paltry sum compared to what the magazine will make off of sales. Still, there will be heftier fines to come if they brush it off.
Also, criminal charges have been filed against the photographer who actually took the pictures. If he's found guilty of violating French privacy laws, he may wind up in jail for a year and face a fine. The editor at Closer is on the hook there as well.
Ireland's Irish Daily Star republished the topless photos, and they're now in heaps of trouble too, it seems. There's talk of a civil suit looming, and the paper's co-owner is now considering shutting down the publication altogether. While that's yet to happen, the paper's shareholders have started an internal investigation and suspended its editor Mike O'Kane.
Make a long story short, publishing topless photos of royalty is just not a good idea.
[via Gawker]
