Swedish magazine publishes 11 topless Kate pictures as French police raid Closer's Paris office
Danish sister publication will print 60-70 photos in a supplement
Editor: 'It is always relevant for us when a duchess and the future queen of England is topless'
Officers closed French Closer's Paris offices at 10am
Identity of photographer has still not been revealed
Judges in France have banned any republishing of the pictures
Royal couple are now returning to UK after their tour of the South Pacific.
A Swedish celebrity magazine has printed 11 topless photos of Kate Middleton spread over three pages of its latest issue while its sister publication in Denmark has threatened to use between 60 and 70 of the offensive shots later this week.
Carina Loefkvist, editor-in-chief of Se og Hør (See and Hear), said her magazine, which has a weekly circulation of more than 100,000, bought the pictures last Friday 'from photographers and photo agencies'.
Ms Loefkvist, said: ‘It is nothing new to us to publish nude photos of celebrities on holiday.
She said actresses Demi Moore and Sharon Stone as well as model Kate Moss have previously appeared half-naked in the magazine.
'No one complains when they do and we print the photos,' Lofkvist added.
Police today raided the Paris headquarters of Closer magazine in the hunt for the photographer who captured Kate Middleton sunbathing topless while on holiday in the south of France.
Detectives arrived at the offices of Closer and confirmed they were looking for information ‘which might lead to the identity’ of the paparazzi photographer.
Kim Henningsen, editor in chief of Se og Hor ( See and Hear) in Copenhagen said he planned to planned to reproduce over 60 photos spread across a 16-page supplement which will be published on Thursday.
He said the magazine was offered 240 photographs but is only using between 60 and 70. They will only be available by buying the magazine, not published on its website.
""He reportedly told one Copenhagen newspaper that the French injunction did not affect his magazine because he had been in possession of the photographs for several days before the Paris court ruling""
.Stop-off: The Duke and Duchess made a brief stop at Brisbane Airport in Australia today on their way back to England.
Smiling: The Royal couple wave to cheering and probably surprised people as they walk through the airport.
He said:’ It’s a set of unique photos from a A-class celebrity. We are a leading gossip magazine in Denmark, and it is my job to publish them.
‘If the British royal family want to sue us, then it will happen then and we’ll deal with it.
‘Our readers love to follow the lives of celebrities and royals and are always looking for news that brings them up close. It is in Se og Hor’s DNA to entertain and satisfy our readers’ curiosity.
‘Therefore it is always relevant for us when a duchess and the future queen of England is topless and willingly reveals her breasts towards a public road.’
But the news underlined fears that the landmark injunction won by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge 48 hours ago will do little to halt the worldwide spread of the pictures.
St James’s Palace said it was aware of the Danish magazine plans to publish, but reissued a statement made at the weekend, saying:’ 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.’
William and Kate won a court order banning Closer magazine - which first published the topless photos - from selling or republishing the photographs but there is nothing to prevent the photographer from continuing to cash in on the controversial images.
French judges blocked further publication of the photographs of Kate by Closer and said its decision to use them had been a ‘brutal’ invasion of the couple’s privacy.
Closer now faces fines of 100,000 euros if it sells the pictures to another publication but it is the unknown photographer - not the magazine - that is thought to own the copyright of the photographs.
With French authorities so far unable to discover the name of the paparazzi 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 that it had solely been authorised because members of the Royal Family were involved.
Journalistic sources - who include 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.’
X marks the spot: The long lens pictures taken of the topless Duchess were shot from the side of the road between trees around half a mile away from the chateaus.
On Tuesday, judges ordered Closer to hand over all files containing the images to representatives of William and Kate within 24 hours, but there was no order to name the photographer.
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.
Despite the court victory, the pictures are already widely available on the Internet and have been printed in Ireland’s Daily Star newspaper and Italy’s Chi magazine.
Any financial penalty Closer might incur will be heavily outweighed by a massive rise in revenue and circulation - the Kate topless pictures issue sold 500,000 copies, about 100,000 more than usual.
Danish sister publication will print 60-70 photos in a supplement
Editor: 'It is always relevant for us when a duchess and the future queen of England is topless'
Officers closed French Closer's Paris offices at 10am
Identity of photographer has still not been revealed
Judges in France have banned any republishing of the pictures
Royal couple are now returning to UK after their tour of the South Pacific.
Carina Loefkvist, editor-in-chief of Se og Hør (See and Hear), said her magazine, which has a weekly circulation of more than 100,000, bought the pictures last Friday 'from photographers and photo agencies'.
Ms Loefkvist, said: ‘It is nothing new to us to publish nude photos of celebrities on holiday.
She said actresses Demi Moore and Sharon Stone as well as model Kate Moss have previously appeared half-naked in the magazine.
'No one complains when they do and we print the photos,' Lofkvist added.
Police today raided the Paris headquarters of Closer magazine in the hunt for the photographer who captured Kate Middleton sunbathing topless while on holiday in the south of France.
Detectives arrived at the offices of Closer and confirmed they were looking for information ‘which might lead to the identity’ of the paparazzi photographer.
Kim Henningsen, editor in chief of Se og Hor ( See and Hear) in Copenhagen said he planned to planned to reproduce over 60 photos spread across a 16-page supplement which will be published on Thursday.
He said the magazine was offered 240 photographs but is only using between 60 and 70. They will only be available by buying the magazine, not published on its website.
""He reportedly told one Copenhagen newspaper that the French injunction did not affect his magazine because he had been in possession of the photographs for several days before the Paris court ruling""
He said:’ It’s a set of unique photos from a A-class celebrity. We are a leading gossip magazine in Denmark, and it is my job to publish them.
‘If the British royal family want to sue us, then it will happen then and we’ll deal with it.
‘Our readers love to follow the lives of celebrities and royals and are always looking for news that brings them up close. It is in Se og Hor’s DNA to entertain and satisfy our readers’ curiosity.
‘Therefore it is always relevant for us when a duchess and the future queen of England is topless and willingly reveals her breasts towards a public road.’
But the news underlined fears that the landmark injunction won by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge 48 hours ago will do little to halt the worldwide spread of the pictures.
 |
| Storm: Police closed the building of French Closer magazine after the pictures appeared in an issue last week. Right: Denmarks Denmark's Se & Hoer, magazine has said he intends to print 70 pictures |
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| Add Storm: Police closed the building of French Closer magazine after the pictures appeared in an issue last week. Right: Denmarks Denmark's Se & Hoer, magazine has said he intends to print 70 pictures |
William and Kate won a court order banning Closer magazine - which first published the topless photos - from selling or republishing the photographs but there is nothing to prevent the photographer from continuing to cash in on the controversial images.
French judges blocked further publication of the photographs of Kate by Closer and said its decision to use them had been a ‘brutal’ invasion of the couple’s privacy.
Closer now faces fines of 100,000 euros if it sells the pictures to another publication but it is the unknown photographer - not the magazine - that is thought to own the copyright of the photographs.
With French authorities so far unable to discover the name of the paparazzi 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 that it had solely been authorised because members of the Royal Family were involved.
Journalistic sources - who include 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.’
On Tuesday, judges ordered Closer to hand over all files containing the images to representatives of William and Kate within 24 hours, but there was no order to name the photographer.
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.
Despite the court victory, the pictures are already widely available on the Internet and have been printed in Ireland’s Daily Star newspaper and Italy’s Chi magazine.
Any financial penalty Closer might incur will be heavily outweighed by a massive rise in revenue and circulation - the Kate topless pictures issue sold 500,000 copies, about 100,000 more than usual.
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