You are a celebrity, judge tells sister of Spanish royal

The sister of Crown Princess Letizia of Spain, it seems, is a celebrity whether she likes it or not. A judge has rejected a request from Telma Ortiz for a restraining order barring media outlets from filming her, saying she is a public figure despite her wishes.

Ms Ortiz, 35, had argued she was not a celebrity and said news organisations have been harassing her and her companion, Enrique Martin Llop. This week, she sued about 50 news outlets in a case being heard in Toledo.

The media organisations included major TV channels and gossip magazines such as Hola!

But Judge Maria Lourdes Perez Padilla said a restraining order would be "legally unviable" because Ms Ortiz and Mr Martin Llop are in the limelight, even if they claim otherwise. They were ordered to pay undisclosed court costs.

Ms Ortiz's problems with the Spanish gossip media began early this year when she returned from the Philippines, where she had been employed as an aid worker, to have a baby in Spain with Mr Martin Llop.

She said the media have invaded their privacy repeatedly. In previous cases, Spanish celebrities have tended to sue a particular news outlet over publication of a specific photo or piece of footage.

But in this case, Ms Ortiz sought a blanket ban on news organisations publishing photos or footage of her, except ones in which she appears at official functions in her role as sister of the crown princess. Such appearances are rare.

Ms Ortiz also would have accepted only pictures of her at royal family gatherings, such as weddings or baptisms.

She is the middle sister of three. Letizia is the eldest. The youngest, Erika, died in February 2007 in what was widely believed to have been a suicide.