Meghan Markle has been in the Royal household for only a few weeks and she is already in the middle of a scandal. First, she wears a flirty pink dress to the Queen’s birthday celebrations and gets flak for baring her arms and now, French lawyers are dragging up her previous saucy footages. Remember when the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, Prince William and Kate Middleton were awarded a payout of £92,000 as a compensation for Kate’s photos which were taken in France in 2012?
Lawyers are now challenging the huge payment by using seductive footage and photos images of Meghan Markle which are public as part of Meghan’s body of work. They are saying it was hypocritical of the Royal family for charging so much for Kate’s inappropriate photos, when Meghan’s racy photos are on display for the public.
French lawyers claim that William and Kate never deserved the huge amount of £92,000 as compensation which they demanded after topless photos of Kate from her vacation were published by French magazine Closer in 2012. The photos made a huge splash when they surfaced as Kate had married William already and she is obviously the future Queen of England. The photos were taken from a long-lens camera when the royal couple was sunbathing on a terrace during their French vacation.
The French lawyers are claiming that the royals cannot ask for such an insane amount of money as compensation for putting at risk the dignity of one of their members, when their newest member Meghan Markle had voluntarily been a part of several racy photoshoots, and seductive videos which are of course, readily available online. They are curious as to why the royals aren’t bothered about Meghan’s photos?
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The problem here, of course, is that Kate’s photos were not volunteered by her or her family, but Meghan’s photos and videos are a part of her work. Meghan, who has been in showbiz for quite a while now, quit acting to pursue her royal ambitions but her body of work of course, remains. And it’s not fair to compare Kate’s photos with Meghan’s photos, as Meghan’s photos and videos are very much a part of her choice.
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Meghan had famously done some love-making sequences for her show Suits and had been part of a steamy scene in another sitcom where she had pleasured a man orally. Plus, she did a video for the 2013 edition of Men’s Health magazine, in a segment called ‘Grilling Never Looked So Hot With Meghan Markle’, in which the former actress is seen removing her shirt and posing as she grills burgers. There are also reportedly some pictures of her, where she exposes her breasts on a beach.
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The appeal against the compensation which the Royals received is set to start in Versailles Appeal Court. And Closer's spokesperson says that the fee should be definitely revised much like regular cases involving privacy issues, where compensations are less than even £100. And the proceedings might get very dramatic as lawyers are planning to actually use the racy videos of Meghan Markle to make their case.
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Paul-Albert Iweins, who’s representing the Closer magazine says that the fines received by the Royals were too much and they were exaggerated, and should have never been more than £100 which is the token amount in privacy cases.
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A counsel assigned to the case claims that young royals are behaving more and more like celebrities. And if photos taken without permission is a problem then risque pictures posted voluntarily should also be an issue. This of course, is indicated towards Meghan who does not just have a showbiz past, but is also the only royal to have ever volunteered anything risque for the sake of work.
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“They are happy with photos of themselves when they are in control, but then claim huge amounts of money when they’re unauthorised. There’s ridiculous hypocrisy involved, and the outrageous compensation figure reflects this,” said a legal source for the case.
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Judges assigned to the case ordered Closer magazine to pay majority of the damages related to the picture scandal. The pictures featured William and Kate lounging around in a poolside chateau in Provence, which is owned by Earl of Snowdon, Princess Margaret’s son. Kate was not only wearing a skimpy bikini but also took off her clothes at one point which was caught on camera.
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Kate’s topless photos were of course, a huge scandal when they were published. But it were just pictures of two married royals relaxing in a personal property and spending time with each other. Fans refused to denounce it as a mistake made by the young couple, and in fact, took their side in the privacy debate.
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The Closer scandal was very unlike that of Prince Harry’s fiasco where he was pictured on his decadent night out. Remember when Harry was pictured dancing naked in vegas - with friends? He had to face a lot of flak for his actions, considering his royal position. But considering Kate and William were so private about their vacation, makes their case a stronger one.
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Even Princess Diana couldn’t escape the pesky paparazzi as they crashed her private vacations and managed to click pictures of her and her boyfriends on the beach. Back then of course, Diana was no longer a royal and it did not affect her all that much.
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This case invariably pits Meghan against her sis-in-law, although none of them are to be blamed in the entire scenario. The critics of the royal family, including the bosses at Closer obviously think it’s unfair that they had to pay so much in damages, when Meghan’s risky photos are for all to see. But Meghan’s careergraph has nothing to do with her current stature and royal title.
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Incidentally, Meghan Markle is trailblazing her way to the hearts of the people. Her fans have noted that she can get away with a lot which perhaps Kate Middleton won’t be forgiven for. And since, Kate is the future Queen, it does make sense. But be it her fashion sense or her penchant for breaking protocol, or even her public relations, Meghan is not one to bow down to archaic pressures.
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The Closer magazine scandal might just be a small hiccup, at most. The royals have been through worse, and have only gotten stronger with each new problem. And after Harry and Meghan’s wedding, they seem to have revived their pop culture significance too.
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