>>>
we'll begin this half hour with an italian
magazine
publishing more images of the duchess of cambridge sunbathing topless in
france
. michelle kusinski joins us live.
>> reporter:
while william and
kate
are trying to enjoy a trip to the
south pacific
, an italian
magazine
published more of the photos, more than 20 of them and lawyers will be in court today beginning a battle against these publications. colorful, exuberant trip it's been for william and
kate
in asia. continuing their say in the
solomon islands
embraced by the people.
kate
even wore a dress given to her as a gift and a nearly constant smile. details and moment the world would be focusing on if it weren't for the images snapped earlier this month in
france
when the couple believed they were in no one's company by their own. they were here on the terrace of a royal relative's chateau. the photographer reportedly several hundred yards away with a long lens and a clear view. today lawyers for the couple will appear in a french court seeking
criminal charges
, arguing that privacy was breached, her image damaged by the circulation of these photos of
kate
sunbathing topless. so far accessible in
france
, ireland, italy and certain u.s. websites. no publisher in the uk has touched them and british companies with a
joint venture
with the irish newspaper that ran them is now considering cutting ties.
>>
we're frankly horfive-day their decision to do it. we're frankly furious with it.
>> reporter:
a sentiment echoed by many, including
princess diana
's best friend rosa monkton who witnessed press intrusion in her life until the night she died.
>>
my first reaction was disbelief followed by anger because it showed me that nothing has changed since 15 years ago when diana died.
>> reporter:
but the publications that ran the photos have staunchly defended themselves.
>>
just a beautiful couple, an in-love couple.
>>
she's not our future queen, and she won't, you know, and they are very good pics.
>> reporter:
today an italian
magazine
plashd out with 42 pages, who apparent with 200 pickages and said a call from the queen herself would not stop them y.go to court over this? if will and
kate
are successful, fines could be levied, future publications could be stopped, current ones pulled. however, the publications have arguments, too, not in the privacy of their home, outdoors in the view of the road. whose image was harmed by these or perhaps was it just the opposite? once again, the question comes up why didn't their security see this coming? savannah?
>>
all right. thank you. an attorney with field, fisher, waterhouse in
france
joins us this morning. sir, good morning to you.
>>
good morning to you. let's talk about this lawsuit. do you think the
royal family
will be successful in this effort in
france
to get
money damages
assessed?
>>
they should actually have no trouble demonstrating that there was a severe invasion of privacy while the royal couple was on vacation in the south of
france
, so, yes, i think the chances are very much on their side.
>>
in some sense, of course, the damage has been done. the pictures are out. they have been published. so what is the remedy? is it just about
money
?
>>
well, there are several remedies possible in
france
. one would be damages,
money
, but i don't think that's what's at stake here. what the royal couple is looking for is an injunction which will prevent the
magazine
in question from publishing these photos on its
internet website
or from the
magazine
selling them to other magazines outside of
france
, and, again, the royal couple should be able to win on these requests.
>>
as you mentioned, it's the injunction that's really the heart of this
legal action
, but in terms of the fines, do these publications look at it rather cynically and think, hey, it's worth it to pay that
money
and publish these photos that give us such notoriety.
>>
very much so. it's a very cynical and business-oriented calculation.
money damages
in
france
tend to be a fraction of what they would be in the
united states
, so any
magazine
, which is doing a cost-
benefit analysis
, is going to tell itself we're better off publishing these photographs, selling a maximum number of issues, and then going to court and paying whatever damages we're going to have to pay.
>>
what about criminal action against the photographer who shot the foeto, i suppose, for invasion of privacy?
>>
yeah. if they could identify who the paparazzi is, they could go after him on criminal grounds, in other words, invasion of privacy, reaching into the private abody of the royal couple when they were on vacation, but we'll have to first figure out who the photographer was, and that's not necessarily going to be such an easy thing to do.
>>
this italian publication that has published these photos this morning, how feasible is for the
royal family
to go publication, by publication, trying to get these photos from being published?
>>
in europe there are at least 27
member states of the european union
and if you have one
magazine
that wants to publish these photos they will have to go through 27
legal systems
to get an injunction in each one. a french court would not be able to prohibit the publication in mag seines outside of
france
.
>>
it's a complicated legal mess. thank you for your perspective this morning. we appreciate it.
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