The court this afternoon ordered Closer magazine to pay €100,000 in damages following the publication of the intrusive pictures in the French publication almost five years ago.
The French magazine’s Editor, Laurence Pieau, and owner, Ernesto Mauri, must also each pay fines of €45,000 – the maximum penalty the court could award.
In a statement, a Kensington Palace spokesperson said: “The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are pleased that the court has found in their favour and the matter is now closed.
“This incident was a serious breach of privacy, and Their Royal Highnesses felt it essential to pursue all legal remedies.
“They wished to make the point strongly that this kind of unjustified intrusion should not happen.”
However, the €100,000 (£92,000) awarded in damages is significantly lower than what the Cambridges were suing for. In total, they wanted somewhere in the region of €1.5m.
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge were on a three-day holiday in a chateau in Provence in the south of France in September 2012 when the photos were taken with a long lens.
They were then published across the front and inside pages of Closer magazine alongside an article with the headline “Oh my God!”
The photos showed the Duchess of Cambridge topless with the Duke of Cambridge putting suncream on her. They were on the terrace of a private chateau owned by the Earl of Snowdon, the Queen’s nephew.
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge launched legal proceedings soon after the photos were published and the photos were banned from further reproduction.
An investigation was also launched into how the images were obtained, but this did not stop the photos from appearing in several other European magazines.
British newspapers rejected approaches to buy the photos, hence they were eventually sold to European publications.
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