Sister of Spain's crown princess seeks protection from the media
Madrid - Telma Ortiz, 34, sister to Spain's Crown Princess Letizia, is seeking a blanket ban on the press and television channels publishing reports, pictures or footage of her, her companion or baby, press reports said Tuesday.
Ortiz has taken court action in the central city of Toledo against 53 media outlets.
Usually, Spanish celebrities have only gone into court over specific reports or photographs, rather than seeking an overall ban.
Sister to former news anchor Letizia Ortiz, who married Crown Prince Felipe in 2004, Telma Ortiz has felt "harassed" by the gossipy media since she returned from the Philippines, where she worked for an aid organization, to have a baby in Spain four months ago.
Ortiz argues that she is not a public personality and that there is no reason for the public to know her any more than it knows the siblings of Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero.
Constant media coverage exposed Ortiz and her family to "real physical danger," her lawyers argued.
Ortiz would only accept pictures of her at royal family gatherings, such as weddings or baptisms.
Lawyers representing the media outlets, however, argue that Ortiz and her companion enjoy a privileged position which deprives them of the status of ordinary citizens.
Telma is Letizia's only remaining sister after the youngest, Erika, died from an overdose of pills in 2007.
A court decision was expected shortly. (dpa)