No grand bash, Queen Elizabeth II's birthday sees scaled-back parade, smaller troops

In 1993, Princess Diana sued the Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN) because the Sunday Mirror published secretly-taken pictures of the royal exercising in a gym. She also sought a permanent ban on the publication of the pictures, which showed the princess clad in a leotard and cycling shorts. The paper apologised, and an out-ofcourt settlement was reached. In addition to the apology, the paper reportedly paid Diana’s legal costs of 1 million pounds plus a fur ther 200,000 pounds to charity.

Princess Caroline is the daughter of the legendary Hollywood star Grace Kelly and Rainier III, Prince of Monaco. She had a troubled relationship with the media growing up. In 2004, Caroline, represented by Matthias Prinz, won a landmark victory in the European Court of Human Rights, which confirmed that the publishing of paparazzi photographs taken of the princess in a public place was a violation of her right to privacy. The court drew a distinction between the activities of Caroline the princess and Caroline the woman.

Following Princess Caroline’s triumph in court, the Swedish family hired Matthias Prinz to represent them in court. It has been reported that in 2004, Prinz, on behalf of the Swedish royal family and chiefly King Carl XVI Gustaf and his German-born wife Queen Silvia, sued Germany’s biggest publishers over claims of 1,588 made-up stories, including more than 500 front-page ‘exclusives’. It has been reported that Prinz filed cases of defamation and invasion of privacy, which resulted in over 23 media outlets to print replies, apologies and retractions.

Prince Al-waleed is a Saudi billionaire, investor and a member of the royal family. In 2013, Forbes estimated his fortune at around $20 billion, which, the royal claimed, was less than the amount he disclosed to the magazine. The prince filed a defamation claim in London against the editor and two journalists. The Kingdom Holding Company, founded by Prince Al-Waleed, issued a statement saying that the magazine published a “deliberately insulting and in accurate description of the business community in Saudi Arabia”. In 2015, Forbes and Al-Waleed released statements that they had settled the dispute.

In 2012, Kate Middleton and Prince William were vacationing in the south of France when paparazzi clicked some photos of the Duchess sunbathing topless. Two French magazines published the photos. In 2017, the Duke and Duchess sued six people in connection with the scandal. The French court found the photos to be an intrusion of privacy and fined the media outlets.