Ashraf Eid, an Egyptian-born French national, alleges that the princess's bodyguard attacked him after she accused him of taking photos and videos of her in September 2016, the judge recounted as proceedings began on Tuesday. He says the guard hit him, tied up his wrists, put a gun to his head and ordered him to kiss the princess's feet.

Hassa bint Salman Al Saud is being tried in absentia on charges of armed violence and complicity to hold someone against their will. But a member of Princess Hassa's defense team told CNN outside the courtroom that their client firmly denies the accusations and was requesting acquittal, insisting that media coverage of the case had been unfair to the Saudi royal.

Eid says he was working in a bathroom in the apartment on Paris' exclusive Avenue Foch -- owned by the Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud -- and took photographs of the furniture "for reference" when he noticed the princess's reflection in the mirror.

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