Hello! wedding pix judgment due today
Hollywood golden couple Catherine Zeta Jones and Michael Douglas will learn today whether or not their privacy battle with Hello! magazine had been successful.
Mr Justice Lindsay was giving his judgment in one of the most publicised cases heard at the High Court in London, which has cost more than £3m (€4.6m) in legal fees.
During the hearing, which lasted six weeks, Zeta Jones, 33, told how she had felt “devastated, shocked and appalled” when she realised that paparazzi had gatecrashed her wedding at the Plaza Hotel in New York in November 2000.
She and her 58-year-old husband had signed a £1m (€1.5m) deal with OK! magazine for exclusive coverage of the event after turning down a higher offer from Hello!
Zeta Jones said she felt “violated” when Hello! published the unauthorised photographs, which she claimed were “sleazy and unflattering”.
The judge was deciding if Hello! is liable for damages – the couple are claiming £500,000 (€728,000) and OK! £1.75m (€2.5m).
Mr Justice Lindsay had been told that Zeta Jones was like any other bride in wanting to choose which pictures were published from her wedding.
Instead, a photographer gatecrashed the celebrations and sold the snatched images to Hello!
Their privacy was violated and the Hollywood couple were entitled to damages, said their barrister, QC Michael Tugendhat.
He said the couple did not want to hide away from family and friends and they wanted their guests to be able to enjoy themselves without worrying about media intrusion.
“There is one way we behave in public and another way we behave in private,” he said.
He said the couple’s contract with OK! allowed them to choose the images which were to be published, retouching of any of the photographs and even whether guests should be edited out.
Mr Justice Lindsay said at the time: “This is what happened in Stalin’s day.”
Mr Tugendhat said: “A part of the process of consent (to allow the photographs to be taken) was that the photographs should go through a process of editing.”
He said that neither of the stars wished to be seen by their public behaving in an unrestrained manner, which is what happens at events such as weddings.
It emerged during the trial that the photographer who snatched the images using a camera held at his hip was Rupert Thorpe, son of the former Liberal Party leader Jeremy Thorpe.
Mr Tugendhat said the hearing was to establish that the couple were entitled to damages for breach of privacy and compensation for OK! for having its exclusive story “spoiled” by Hello!
He said the couple’s plans to protect the privacy of their wedding was frustrated by Hello! and its proprietor, Eduardo Sanchez Junco, who entered into a scheme to receive “stolen” photographs when his offers to buy them from the couple were rejected.
“Anyone would be upset on discovering marriage celebrations – something everyone would wish to be conducted amongst friends in an atmosphere of trust - should be exploited in this way.”
