Updated on
Summary An Italian gossip magazine plans to publish topless photos of Prince William's wife Kate.
It will be done despite legal action against a French magazine that published the images first.Chi is part of Berlusconis publishing house Mondadori, which also owns Closer, the popular French magazine that hit newsstands Friday with the photos and was immediately slapped with a lawsuit by the royal couple alleging privacy violations.The photos, taken while Kate and William were at a private estate in southern France last month, are the first to show Britains likely future queen with her bosom exposed.Chi said it plans to publish a 26-page spread with photos on Monday. The cover was unveiled Saturday in Italian newspapers and television under the headline The Queen is Nude.In an interview Saturday with The Associated Press, editor Alfonso Signorini said he didnt fear legal action since the photos were already in the public domain following Closers publication.He defended the decision to publish them, saying the photos are tasteful and respect Kates dignity.I dont see anything morbid or damaging in them, he said. Chi pays attention to respecting peoples dignity. I dont think they hurt Kates image.Prince Williams office, St. Jamess Palace, declined to comment on Chis plans.The blurry photos, called a grotesque abuse of privacy by royal officials after they were published Friday by Closer, show Kate the Duchess of Cambridge wearing only a skimpy bikini bottom and sunglasses.St. Jamess Palace officials compared the intrusion on the young couples privacy to the tragic paparazzi pursuit of Williams mother Princess Diana, which many believe was a contributing factor to her early death in a car crash in Paris on Aug. 31, 1997.That two magazines in Berlusconis media empire were responsible for the distribution of the images of a topless Kate is remarkable, given the former premiers own problems with paparazzi and his privacy.In 2009, he threatened legal action against the Spanish newspaper El Pais after it published photos of topless women and a naked man lounging at his Sardinian estate. Italian prosecutors seized the photos and placed the photographer under investigation for alleged violation of privacy.
