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Norway’s Princess Ragnhild dies aged 82

King Harald greeted with sorrow the news on Sunday of the death of his older sister, Princess Ragnhild.

Norway's Princess Ragnhild dies aged 82
Princess Ragnhild (left) with her siblings Princess Astrid and King Harald (Photo: Sven Gj. Gjeruldsen/Det kongelige hoff).

The 82-year old princess died at her home in Rio de Janeiro, where she had lived since her marriage in 1953 to resistance fighter Erling Lorentzen.

“She was a good ambassador for Norway in Brazil – a warm-hearted representative for the country to which she always felt a connection,” said Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg in a statement.

Born in 1930, Ragnhild Alexandra was the first child of the then Crown Prince Olav and Crown Princess Märtha.

After her marriage to Lorentzen – the son of a shipping magnate – she became known by the official title Princess Ragnhild, fru Lorentzen.

Following their move to Brazil, the couple had three children, with the housewife princess stepping ever further away from the limelight. Only occasionally did she represent Norway in an official capacity.

Prime Minister Stoltenberg noted however that the princess had long displayed warmth towards people in need in Brazil. This was reflected in part by the creation of the Princess Ragnhild Fund for children in her adoptive country.

In 2004, she created headlines in Norway for a television appearance in which she criticized Crown Prince Haakon and Princess Märtha Louise for their respective spousal choices.

King Olav, she said, would never have agreed to admit Ari Behn or Mette-Marit Tjessem Høiby into the royal family.

Princess Ragnhild had battled with illness for some time, according to the experienced royal reporter Kjell Arne Totland.

“I know that the royal family has been kept updated on Princess Ragnhild’s health in recent months,” Totland told newspaper Bergens Tidende.

She was unable to travel to Oslo in May to celebrate the king and queen’s 75th birthdays.

The princess will be buried at Asker Church following a ceremony at the Palace Chapel. No date has yet been set for the funeral.

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ROYAL

French magazine must pay 190,000 euros over Kate Middleton topless pics

A French court ruled Tuesday that a French celebrity magazine must pay 100,000 euros in damages to Britain's Prince William and his wife Kate over topless photos of the duchess published in 2012.

French magazine must pay 190,000 euros over Kate Middleton topless pics
AFP
 
The court also ordered Closer magazine's editor Laurence Pieau and publisher Ernesto Mauri to each pay 45,000 euros ($53,000) in fines, the maximum possible.
   
The couple had sought 1.5 million euros in damages and interest.
   
Closer magazine's lawyer Paul-Albert Iweins said he was “pleased” with the ruling on the damages to pay, but said the fine was “exaggerated for a simple private matter.”
   
For his part, the royal couple's lawyer Jean Veil declined to comment, adding that Kensington Palace would make a statement.
 
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AFP  
   
The grainy snaps of Kate Middleton sunbathing in a bikini bottom were taken while she was on holiday in September 2012 in the south of France with her husband, the second in line to the British throne.
   
The couple were snapped with a long lens relaxing by a pool at a chateau belonging to Viscount Linley, a nephew of Queen Elizabeth.
   
The pictures triggered a furious reaction from the royal family in Britain, where several newspapers rejected an offer to buy the pictures.
   
Closer, a glossy gossip magazine, was the first to splash them on its cover, and they were later reproduced in several other European publications, including Chi in Italy and Ireland's Daily Star.
   
The royals — who announced Monday they are expecting a third child — filed a criminal complaint for invasion of privacy and obtained an injunction preventing further use of the images.
   
In a letter read out in court, William said the case reminded him of the paparazzi hounding of his mother, princess Diana, who was killed in a car crash in Paris 20 years ago.
   
Two Paris-based agency photographers,  were each given fines of 10,000 euros, with 5,000 euros suspended.
 
'Positive image'
 
The prosecution had called for “very heavy” fines for the editor of the French Closer and Mondadori France, which is part of former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi's media empire.
   
The royals had joined the case as civil plaintiffs.
   
During the trial, Closer's lawyers argued that the pictures were in the public interest and conveyed a “positive image” of the royals.
   
The court also ordered the magazine to hand over the files with the images to the royal couple.
   
They learned of their impending publication while on an Asia-Pacific tour to mark the diamond jubilee of William's grandmother Queen Elizabeth II.