Catherine & William: 'Closer' magazine and breach of privacy: September 2012

[assia]

Originally Posted by AdmirerUS

Lumutqueen: I saw that and was surprised. Catherine Elizabeth Middleton! The court document showing that is at: http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/...-2_634x621.jpg

There is nothing strange at that: France is a republic, so titles are not legally recognised. When you go to court, you are indentified and addressed to by your family name and for a woman by your birth name, what could just had been added would be :
Catherine Middleton, épouse Mountbatten-Windsor, but this is not mandatory.
This is totally usual.

[grevinnan]

Originally Posted by EIIR

So, anyone who goes on holiday and has their house burgled while they're away were pretty much asking for it by leaving their home for a period of time?

Or a person whose drink is spiked in a bar was pretty much asking for it for choosing to consume alcohol in public?

Or someone who gets mugged walking home from the train station after work has no reason to complain because if you choose to go out at night on your own you should just expect that some creep will assault you?

I despair sometimes, I really do. The only way the royals can ensure that their pictures don't appear in newspapers would be if they stayed in a windowless room for the rest of their lives. That cannot be right and it should not be acceptable to anyone. They have as much right to a private life as anyone.

Those spewing about William 'using' his mother's death when times get difficult for him should truly be ashamed of themselves. William had a front-row seat as his mother's life was ruined by the press, and Diana's dalliance with them. The French courts ruled that the paparazzi's uncontrolled actions were a significant cause of the accident which killed his mother. William's drawing comparisons with what happened to his mother shows how deeply this has upset him and Kate and how serious he thinks this matter is. No one has to right to tell William how and when he should refer to his mother.

We are all responsible for our safety. So your examples could be answered Yes, we are responsible. Would you drink something a total stranger (not a bartender or waitress) gives you at a bar? If you had very valuable items in your house (art, jewelry...) would you not make sure you have adequate security? Besides your insurance would not pay otherwise if burglarized. Would you sunbathe topless when you are the most aftersought target among all young women in the world - especially for photos catching you off guard?

Let's not try to make Catherine to "one of us". She is not and she never will be.

[Nico]

I don't think she has. I personally think the French courts got it wrong, they should have been referred to with their royal titles. And Mrs Middleton is Catherine's mother. Mrs Catherine Middleton isn't The Duchess of Cambridge

French official documents don't recognise any title (french or foreign). The spouse is always called by her maiden name.

[Frelinghighness]

Glad they filed criminal charges too. To simply let these tabloids run free is wrong.
I follow the Murdoch phone hacking scandal cases with glee.
Illegal wire tapping on crime victims' families has got to be the lowest of the low.

Jackie O had famously been photographed nude on their private greek island. She continually sued, and had later had a restraining order against a stalking pap. Her "defense" was that she was not a public person (anymore).
That it was about her and her children's security was obvious. Nobody needed to bring up the assasination.

[casualfan]

Originally Posted by Duke of Marmalade

To me this is not true at all. Diana's relationship with the media was a very special topic, not as black and white as portrayed by the palace at all.

William should refrain from bringing his mother into his own relationship with the media over and over again. Its like a jack-in-the-box coming out every time William is unhappy with the media. Time to finally get over it and move on.

The only problem with this is that most investigations into his mother's death concluded that the paps played at least a part in the accident that killed her. I'm not a Diana apologist, but I totally understand why William is gun-shy about this issue.

[Osipi]

Originally Posted by assia

There is nothing strange at that: France is a republic, so titles are not legally recognised. When you go to court, you are indentified and addressed to by your family name and for a woman by your birth name, what could just had been added would be :
Catherine Middleton, épouse Mountbatten-Windsor, but this is not mandatory.
This is totally usual.

Thanks. I had a feeling it had something to do with the French legal system. Its still morning here and I've already learned something new today.

[fandesacs2003]

Originally Posted by Lumutqueen

I don't think she has. I personally think the French courts got it wrong, they should have been referred to with their royal titles. And Mrs Middleton is Catherine's mother. Mrs Catherine Middleton isn't The Duchess of Cambridge.

France is a Republic, and noblesse titles have been abolished since the French Revolution. All citizens of France and abroad are towards french law equal civil persons and they use only their legal name. It is the law for W+K to be referred like this. Noblesse title are still used by French aristocrats, only in their social life.
I'm sure that even QEII will be referred as Elisabeth Windsor-Bowes Lyon (or Moundbatten, I do not really know)

[Skippyboo]

More than likely Kate didn't go thru the process of officially changing her last name, why would she when isn't really going to use it like a regular person would.

I'm glad they won. It is about getting rid of the picture since they are already out there but stopping the next one. I'm sure Kate probably will keep her top on from now on but think when they have kids, they don't want the paparazzi spying on them everytime they go in their backyard. Even the animals in the zoo are on display 24/7.

[Osipi]

Originally Posted by Skippyboo

More than likely Kate didn't go thru the process of officially changing her last name, why would she when isn't really going to use it like a regular person would.

I'm glad they won. It is about getting rid of the picture since they are already out there but stopping the next one. I'm sure Kate probably will keep her top on from now on but think when they have kids, they don't want the paparazzi spying on them everytime they go in their backyard. Even the animals in the zoo are on display 24/7.

The best is yet to come I think.. Criminal charge. We have to remember that the owner of Closure in France is also the owner of Chi in Italy. I can imagine that in her time, HM has met this person as PM of Italy and to be honest, to take him to court over these publication of pics is not sitting well with any of the BRF. If the government of Italy has any interest in preserving any kind of good relations with the UK, they would stand in good stead to prosecute this guy to the full max of the law.

Actually this has the full marks of becoming a full scale global incident. Its not about boobs anymore or paps with long lenses. Its not about a celeb caught "nekkid" on a horse or whatever. Its about fighting for what is right.

A movie on YouTube starts riots. Bare boobs of Kate become global viral must see. The sad thing is that people buy into it.

[EIIR]

Originally Posted by grevinnan

We are all responsible for our safety. So your examples could be answered Yes, we are responsible. Would you drink something a total stranger (not a bartender or waitress) gives you at a bar? If you had very valuable items in your house (art, jewelry...) would you not make sure you have adequate security? Besides your insurance would not pay otherwise if burglarized. Would you sunbathe topless when you are the most aftersought target among all young women in the world - especially for photos catching you off guard?

Let's not try to make Catherine to "one of us". She is not and she never will be.

Ok, so in pretty much every crime, as far as you're concerned, the victim bears some of the responsibility for what happens to them? Victims of burglary should've just had better security in place. Proper burglars can get around sophisticated alarms systems without a huge amount of difficulty.

With the best will in the world, no one can keep their eyes on their drink 100% of the time; if you did you'd be pretty awful company. All it takes is a split second and it's done.

I certainly would bathe topless if I believed that I was in a very remote, private place, at least half a mile or more away from any public land, beyond the capability of the human eye to see me, on an estate where several of my (very famous) family members have previously holidayed without issue, in a country that has some of the strictest privacy laws in the world whereby no one, even public officials, can be photographed without their consent even if they're on public property. With all that in mind, I'd assume that there's a reasonable expectation that I can do what I please.

[Al_bina]

Spletnik.ru --- French court banned republishing or selling the controversial photos

[Lumutqueen]

Originally Posted by fandesacs2003

France is a Republic, and noblesse titles have been abolished since the French Revolution. All citizens of France and abroad are towards french law equal civil persons and they use only their legal name. It is the law for W+K to be referred like this. Noblesse title are still used by French aristocrats, only in their social life.
I'm sure that even QEII will be referred as Elisabeth Windsor-Bowes Lyon (or Moundbatten, I do not really know)

Got more to do with the fact she isn't Middleton than the none use of their titles.

[EIIR]

From what Sky News were saying, these weren't 'royal lawyers' acting for the Cambridges, rather they were lawyers from a separate French firm that were recommended to them for the purposes of the French litigation. I don't think this firm have previous experience of acting on behalf of the British royals and so their names are not 100% correct. I don't think it's a big issue.

[Dman]

I'm just glad they won the injunction.

[Duchessmary]

Me too!

[Osipi]

Originally Posted by Lumutqueen

Got more to do with the fact she isn't Middleton than the none use of their titles.

I think it was as someone from France said, the surname of the Duchess was used as is custom. her maiden name. Was also said that it could have been added espouse Mountbatten-Windsor but wasn't.

[Lumutqueen]

Channel 5 in the UK are milking the current peak in William and Catherine interest, they are showing a 1 hour baby fever 'documentary'. Discussing how the child will be brought up, where, godparents. Television is in the toilet.

It's not just the papers making money.

[angieuk]

Snakes and Ladders!

Whilst EBay has now CLOSED down the Option to Bid on any Magazines concerning the couple.

Germany, America and Australia are now considering whether to publish the pictures in some of their weekly magazines.

Don't be surprised if when the couple return to the UK on Thursday/Friday 20 Sep they don't head straight for Wales and stay there till Xmas.

[Dman]

Originally Posted by Lumutqueen

Channel 5 in the UK are milking the current peak in William and Catherine interest, they are showing a 1 hour baby fever 'documentary'. Discussing how the child will be brought up, where, godparents. Television is in the toilet.

It's not just the papers making money.

Well, the docs are expected. I remember the ones about finding William a wife a couple years back. Also, one on how to marry a prince.

[EIIR]

The degree of attention and interest among the press when it comes to these two is just bonkers. One of the lawyers was heading into the courtroom in Paris yesterday and they were pursued by what I can only compare to a rugby scrum of TV crews, reporters, photographers apparently from all over the world. I mean, William and Kate weren't even there!

I can only imagine what the press is going to be like when Kate is pregnant and has her first child. I think that's why it's important for them to make the point to the media that there are certain things they won't tolerate. This is the time to do it, rather than when there are little children involved or when Kate is expecting.