Dutch government acts over photos of young royals

AMSTERDAM, Oct 27 (Reuters) The Dutch government demanded a Web site sympathetic to paedophiles remove photographs of child members of the royal family, including the three-year-old heiress to the throne Princess Amalia.

The Dutch government said yesterday it would seek an injunction on Monday, demanding a penalty of 50,000 euros (72,000 dollars) for every royal picture that remained on the website.

In the lawsuit, it will argue that the website of the organisation that promotes more social acceptance of paedophilia is violating the princess's privacy and the right to control how pictures of her are used.

A government spokesman said pictures of Amalia and her cousins Lucas and Anna appeared on the website of the Dutch paedophile association Martijn with the caption: ''Our royal family has produced a whole new generation of princes and princesses. How fortunate!'' The pictures -- including an official portrait of Amalia in a summer dress -- have been removed from the public part of the website but two pictures are still available for members of the organisation, the spokesman said.

Amalia is the eldest daughter of Crown Prince Willem-Alexander and is second in the line to the throne after her father.

Possession and distribution of child pornography is illegal in the Netherlands and the Dutch government is also preparing laws to outlaw watching child porn on websites without downloading pictures.

Last year, members of the Martijn group set up a political party to campaign for a cut in the age of consent from 16 to 12, and the legalisation of child pornography. The party failed to get enough support to run in the national election.

A statement on the Martijn group website says the leadership of the organisation is not responsible for the content its members place on the forum.

REUTERS LPB KN0857