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May 3 (UPI) -- A trial over topless photos taken of Kate Middleton, the duchess of Cambridge, began this week in France, with lawyers representing the royal family asking for $1.6 million in damages. The photos were published by French magazine Closer and regional newspaper La Provence, and featured Middleton sunbathing topless while she was on vacation with husband Prince William in Provence in 2012.
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On trial are six individuals, including Closer magazine editor Laurence Pieau, La Provence publishing director Marc Auburtin, chief executive Ernesto Mauri and photographers Cyril Moreau, Dominique Jacovides and Valerie Suau, BBC reported.
Lawyers representing William and Middleton, who did not attend the proceedings, asked for "very large damages" to be imposed. William issued a written declaration that was read out loud stating, "My wife and I thought that we could go to France for a few days in a secluded villa owned by a member of my family, and thus enjoy our privacy."
"The clandestine way in which these photographs were taken was particularly shocking to us as it breached our privacy," he continued.
William also called the images "all the more painful" as his mother, Diana, princess of Wales, died in a car crash in Paris in 1997 as she was being pursued by paparazzi.
Lawyers representing Closer magazine argued that the photographs cast the royal couple "in a positive light."
Judge Florence Lasserre-Jeannin will announce a verdict on July 4, CNN reported.
