Kate Middleton has won the first stage of a privacy battle by securing an apology and damages from a paparazzi agency which distributed pictures of her playing tennis.
Prince William's girlfriend was photographed during a Christmas holiday with her family at Restormel Manor in Cornwall. Media organisations in the UK acceded to a request from Buckingham Palace not to publish the pictures, but they appeared in the German press.
Miss Middleton instructed Harbottle & Lewis, the Queen's solicitors, to pursue action on her behalf.
Yesterday she received £5,000 in damages for breach of privacy, plus legal costs, from the picture agency, Rex Features. A spokesman for Miss Middleton, 28, said she would donate the sum to charity.
A statement published on Rex's website said: "On 24 and 25 December 2009, a photographer not employed by Rex Features followed and took photographs of Kate Middleton and her family during the course of a private holiday in Cornwall. Rex Features subsequently syndicated a number of the photographs for publication in the foreign media.
"Although at the time Rex Features did not know that an infringement of privacy had occurred, we now accept that this was the case and that by distributing photographs we were a party to that invasion of privacy. Accordingly we have agreed to pay compensation to Miss Middleton and have undertaken not to syndicate any further private photographs of her. We apologise to Miss Middleton for what has taken place."
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