Family Privacy and The Press
In an attempt to strike a balance between privacy for the royal family and availability to the press, the Netherlands Government Information Service (RVD) instituted a media code on 21 June 2005 which essentially states that:
- Photographs of the members of the royal house while performing their duties are always permitted.
- For other occasions (like holidays), the RVD will arrange a photo-op on condition that the press leave the family alone for the rest of the holiday.
During a ski vacation in Argentina, several photographs were taken of the prince and his family during the private part of their holiday (including one by Associated Press staff photographer Natacha Pisarenko) in spite of the media code, and after a photo op had earlier been provided. The Associated Press decided to publish some of the photos. The pictures were also republished by several Dutch media.
Prince Willem-Alexander and the RVD jointly filed suit against the Associated Press on 5 August 2009. The trial started on 14 August at the district court in Amsterdam and concluded with a verdict on 28 August. The court found in favor of the Prince and the RVD, citing that the royal couple has a right to privacy and the pictures in question add nothing to any public debate, nor are they of any particular value to society (since they are not photographs of the royals "at work"). Associated Press was sentenced to stop further publication of the photographs, on pain of a €1000 fine per violation with a €50000 maximum.
Read more about this topic: Willem-Alexander, Prince Of Orange
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