A French court has banned a magazine from reusing photographs of the topless Duchess of Cambridge after labelling them a "brutal display" of her private life.

French Closer magazine must also hand over all copies of the pictures within 24 hours.

Closer faces a daily fine of 10,000 euros if it fails to produce the photos taken during the royals' holiday in southern France. It also cannot disseminate them any further, including on its website and tablet app.

The magazine published 14 photos of a partially-clad Kate in its pages on Friday.

The pictures were also published in Ireland and Italy but today's ruling only affects Mondadori Magazines France, Closer's publisher. The publisher also faces a 2,000 euro fine.

"These snapshots which showed the intimacy of a couple, partially naked on the terrace of a private home, surrounded by a park several hundred metres from a public road, and being able to legitimately assume that they are protected from passers-by, are by nature particularly intrusive," the French ruling decreed. "(They) were thus subjected to this brutal display the moment the cover appeared."

The photos show the duchess relaxing at a private villa in Provence, sometimes without her bikini top.

The lawyer for Montedori failed to show up at the court in the Parisian suburb of Nanterre today.

The case is the first of two legal actions by the royals. In a reflection of just how intent they are on protecting their privacy - and also dissuading paparazzi from future ventures - St James's Palace has said family lawyers would be filing a criminal complaint.