Diana crash photographers fined €1 for invasion of privacy

A Paris appeals court fined three photographers €1 each for invasion of privacy for taking pictures of Britain's Princess Diana and boyfriend Dodi Fayed the night of their fatal 1997 car crash, officials said today.

Jacques Langevin, Christian Martinez and Fabrice Chassery were acquitted of the invasion of privacy charge in 2003 after judges said a crashed vehicle on a public highway is not a private area.

But France’s highest court disagreed in a ruling last April and sent the case to the Paris appeals court for review.

The appeals court fined them the symbolic €1 sum in a ruling on Friday, which was not announced until today.

The court also ordered them to pay for the publication of announcements of the conviction in three newspapers or magazines.

Fayed’s father, Egyptian-born billionaire Mohammed Al Fayed, filed the invasion of privacy complaint.

Diana’s relatives and the UK's royal family were not plaintiffs in the case, which focused on three photos of the couple leaving the Ritz Hotel by car and three after the 1997 accident.