The statement from Paul Keenan (pictured): “As the owners of the Closer brand and publishers of Closer magazine we have complained in the strongest terms to the licensee of Closer France, over the publication by them of photographs of their Royal Highnesses, Prince William and the Duchess of Cambridge.
We deplore the publication of these intrusive and offensive pictures and have asked that Closer France takes these pictures down immediately from its website and desist from publishing any further pictures.
Bauer Media and Closer UK regards publication of these photographs as a gross intrusion of their Royal Highness’ privacy.
We were not aware in advance of the purchase of these photographs or of any intention to publish. We have absolutely no control over the editorial decisions of Closer France.
In the light of their publication, we are now urgently discussing this matter with our licensee.
Like our readers we are appalled and regret the pain the publication of these photographs has caused.”
(Closer magazine UK is published by Bauer Consumer Media. The French edition meanwhile is published under a licence by a totally different company, an Italian business called Mondadori which is owned by Fininvest.)
