Minor UK Royal Zara Phillips and rugby player Mike Tindall are reported to have been paid £150,000 for an exclusive photoshoot following the birth of their baby daughter Mia.
The intimate photoshoot comes despite the fact that Tindall is suing the Sunday Express for breach of privacy after it published a story about his “marriage blip” with Zara.
He is seeking £50,000 in damages for the publication of “false, private information” which followed an incident where Tindall was filmed on CCTV kissing a woman in a New Zealand nightclub.
Express Newspapers publisher Northern and Shell publishes rival celebrity magazine OK!.
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The newspaper said in legal papers that the article made clear that "the reported rumours were rumours and their veracity was unknown" and it said that "the reported rumours did not contain medical, highly personal or sensitive information of any kind".
Lawyer Niri Shan from Taylor Wessing warned that the Hello! photoshoot could make more difficult to protect the child’s privacy in future.
He told the Mail: “This is going to make it very difficult for them to protect the privacy of their baby when she is photographed outside in the future, outside of any specific issue of harassment.”
Zara’s brother Peter and wife Autumn reportedly sold their wedding pictures to Hello! for £500,000 in 2008.
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