STRASBOURG, France (Reuters) - The European Court of Human Rights condemned Germany on Thursday for failing to stop press photos of Princess Caroline of Monaco which it said violated her right to respect for private life.
Germany's Constitutional Court ruled in December 1999 that the princess was a contemporary public figure who had to tolerate photos of herself in public places, rejecting her bid for an injunction stopping further photographs being published.
But the Strasbourg court said this constituted a violation of the European Convention on Human Rights, which grants the right to respect for private life.
"The Court considered that the general public did not have a legitimate interest in knowing Caroline von Hannover's whereabouts or how she behaved generally in her private life," the court said.
The 47-year old princess, daughter of Prince Rainier of Monaco and American film icon Grace Kelly, became Caroline von Hannover after her marriage to Prince Ernst-August von Hannover.
"Photos appearing in the tabloid press were often taken in a climate of continual harassment which induced in the person concerned a very strong sense of intrusion into their private life or even of persecution," the court said.
The court put off until a later date a decision on any damages Germany might have to pay the princess. Germany has three months to appeal against the court's judgment.
Caroline's lawyer, Matthias Prinz, welcomed the ruling, which obliges German courts to take the Strasbourg decision into account when assessing similar cases in the future.
"This is very good for my client and for all people in Europe because the court is raising the standard of protection of private life to a level higher than in Germany -- to the level of France," Prinz said.
Since the beginning of the 1990s, Caroline has campaigned to prevent photographs of her private life being published in the tabloid press.
Media interest has also focused on Caroline's husband, who has been convicted of attacking a photographer, and on the turbulent love life of her sister Stephanie who most recently made headlines with her marriage to a Portuguese circus acrobat.
Ernst looks hot in those jeans.
I was just being sarcastic. 
