Dutch Princess Photograph Controversy

The Dutch Royal Family are often ridiculed for their legal objections to the publication of unofficial photographs featuring family members. In October, 2007, they sued Vereniging MARTIJN after a user posted official pictures of a three-year-old Royal Princess to a webforum operated by the group.

Timeline

• October 24 - MARTIJN received objections from the Royal Family, concerning official photos of the Princess that had been posted on their web forum. They were ordered to remove these photographs. Eventually, the photographs were removed.

• October 26 - At 13:38, MARTIJN are ordered by e-mail to remove the photos from a "hidden section" of their website, which was in fact an administrator's room, used for reviewing deleted topics. The legal representative was aware that the thread still existed, as the photographs were located on the Royal Family's official website, meaning that they had access to information about where they were being viewed. On 14:55 (5 minutes before deadline) MARTIJN answered, asserting that no photos had existed on the hidden section of their website. At 16:45, they received a court order, including documentation. They were to attend court on 11:00 on the 29th, ordered to pay a fine and sign an agreement saying that they would owe 50,000 Euros for every future "offence" of posting such a photograph. The lawsuit was premised upon the royal family's right to privacy.

Unsurprisingly, the story hit the media, and the anti-pedophile weblogs over the weekend of 27 and 28 October.