Court of Cassation, Civil Chamber
25 November 2004
Facts
A weekly magazine published an article on young princes and princesses aged between 13 and 22 years old. The article presented a portrait of each of them, specifying their rank, age, studies, hobbies, strengths and weaknesses. A large photograph of one of these children, a young girl aged 13, illustrated the cover of the magazine.
Complaint
The mother of the young girl considered that the article and photographs infringed her daughter’s right to privacy and sued the company for damages. The Court of Appeal rejected her complaints, arguing that the daughter was a public figure because she belonged to a princely family and therefore certain elements of her private life which were not intimate could be divulged. The mother contested this decision before the Court of Cassation.
Court’s ruling
The Court of Cassation accepted the applicant’s claim. The Court ruled that the publication of the article violated the young girl’s private life and could not be justified by her notoriety. The Court argued that she did not hold any official position and was not involved in any current event whose importance would have justified the publication of information relating exclusively to her private life. Regarding the photographs, the Court ruled that these photographs, which illustrated an article infringing the girl’s right to privacy, and which were published without her consent, necessarily infringed her right to respect for her image.