French mags’ lawyer blames Kate Middleton over topless pics fiasco

London: The lawyer for the French mag that first published the topless photos of Kate, has blamed the royal couple for the furore that followed. Delphine Pando sparked outrage when she claimed the couple’s furious reaction to their privacy breach at a remote chateau drew further press interest which gave the story global appeal. She said that topless pictures are no longer shocking in today’s society, and insisted the holiday hideaway was in a public place easily viewed from a nearby road. But angry lawyers for the royals said the couple’s privacy had been “violated” and claimed that the Duchess of Cambridge was being treated purely as a commodity for commercial gain. “She’s a young woman, not an object,” the Mirror quoted the royal couple’s French barrister Aurelien Hamelle as telling the Nanterre court. He also said that the scenes captured were intimate and personal and had “no place on the front page of a magazine.” And he insisted the couple could not have known they were being photographed as it would only have been possible to see them with a long lens. Their legal team has tried to halt the sale and distribution of the topless pictures by French Closer magazine, demanding they hand over the digital originals – with a fine of 10,000 euros for each day they refused. They have also made a criminal complaint to prosecutors about the snaps. ANI