French court orders magazine to hand over topless Kate snaps

PARIS - Agence France-Presse

Prince William and his wife Kate, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, smile as they watch a shark ceremony as they arrive at Marapa Island, Solomon Islands, Monday, Sept. 17, 2012. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft, Pool)

A French court on Tuesday banned Closer magazine from any further publication or resale of topless pictures of Prince William's wife Catherine.
 
An injunction granted by the court also ordered the magazine to hand over all files of the pictures in its possession to representatives of the royal couple within 24 hours and said it would be fined 10,000 euros ($13,000) for every day's delay.

The ruling prevents Closer, which published the pictures on Friday, from reusing them in print or on its website, as well as from selling them to markets where they have not been published.
 
The pictures are already widely available on the Internet and have been printed in Ireland's Daily Star newspaper and Italy's Chi magazine.

The royal couple have initiated criminal proceedings over the topless pictures with the aim of securing the prosecution of Closer's editor and the photographer or photographers who took the pictures.
 
A French prosecutor on Tuesday began a preliminary investigation into the criminal complaint.