GERMANY: Germany must pay €10,000 in damages to Princess Caroline of Monaco after failing to stop press photographs violating her right to privacy, the European Court of Human Rights ruled yesterday.
The ruling validated an accord the two parties reached amicably after the Strasbourg-based court condemned Germany last year for letting newspapers publish photographs of her.
Germany's constitutional court ruled in December 1999 that the princess was a contemporary public figure who had to tolerate photos of herself in public places, rejecting her bid for an injunction stopping further photographs being published.
However the Strasbourg court said in June last year this constituted a breach of the European Convention on Human Rights, which grants the right to respect for private life.
At the same time the court put off a decision on damages and the two parties worked out an agreement that also satisfied the court.
The 48-year old daughter of Prince Rainier of Monaco and American film icon Grace Kelly will also receive €105,000 for legal costs and expenses, the court stated.
Caroline of Monaco, who became Caroline von Hannover after marrying Prince Ernst-August von Hannover, had started a legal battle in the early 1990s to stop photographs of her private life being published by German magazines.