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A paparazzi agency that took photos of the Duchess of Sussex and her young son Archie when they went for a walk near their home “illegally invaded” their privacy and agreed not to take pictures of the family in the future, a court heard on Friday.
Judge Nicklin heard the public hearing statement at a remote hearing on Friday regarding a privacy and data protection claim by Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, and her son with Prince Harry against Splash News and Picture Agency.
The agency is now under administration, but a statement read to the court says the parties agreed to settle the claim over the photos, which were taken in a “remote rural setting” in a Canadian park. He continued: “The administrators of Splash UK have committed that, should the entity leave the administration, Splash UK will not take photographs of the Duke and Duchess or their son in the future.”
A spokesman for the couple’s law firm, Schillings, said that while the case had concluded, another claim would continue against a sister agency based in the United States.
The spokesman said: “The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have successfully resolved a legal claim filed earlier this year against the paparazzi agency Splash UK.
“This agreement is a clear sign that illegal, invasive and intrusive behavior by the paparazzi will not be tolerated, and that the couple takes these matters seriously, as any family would.
“A simultaneous and similar lawsuit against Splash US, a sister company to Splash UK, continues to advance in the British court system.”
Meghan’s lawyer, Jenny Afia, told the court that “the taking of photographs was an illegal invasion of privacy.” He said the photos were taken “on a private family outing in a remote rural setting and there was no public interest in the photos.”
He noted that the day before the photographs were taken, a Splash photographer had conducted “a full reconnaissance inspection of the Duke and Duchess’s private home, walking around to identify entry and exit points and placing his camera over the fence. to take pictures. ” .
A representative of the agency’s administrators, Neil Allen, said they accepted the content of the statement.
At a hearing in September, the Duchess’s attorney, Jonathan Barnes, said that Meghan and her son had been “photographed” by an agency photographer.
He said the agency had sold the images, taken on January 20 this year, which show the Duchess walking with her son in a baby carrier and her two dogs, at Horth Hill Regional Park on Vancouver Island in Canada.
The case was brought by Meghan in her own right and by her and her husband, the Duke of Sussex, on behalf of Archie.
