Berlusconi's Chi magazine prints topless photos of Princess Catherine
Tabloid owned by Berlusconi prints pictures of duchess despite threat of legal action in France
An Italian gossip magazine owned by former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi published a 26-page spread of topless photos of Prince William's wife Catherine yesterday, despite legal action in France against the magazine that published them first.
"The queen is nude!" read the front-page headline of Chi magazine, which featured a montage of photos taken while the duke and duchess of Cambridge were on holiday at a relative's home in the south of France last month.
They included the 14 pictures published by the popular French magazine Closer, which like Chi is owned by Berlusconi's Mondadori publishing house. But the Chi spread ran the whole sequence of photos as the couple sunbathed on a terrace, including a shot of the princess putting sun cream on her posterior that did not appear in Closer.
The couple is hitting back against the publication of the images, which Prince William's office called a "grotesque" invasion of their privacy. The publication of the pictures came hours before the royals embarked on a legal battle to try to stop the spread of the photos.
The prosecutor's office in the Paris suburb of Nanterre said it received the complaint against persons unknown by which the royal couple aim to win compensation for the images of the royal couple at the French chateau.
The couple have said they want damages for the alleged breach of France's privacy law from both the weekly magazine Closer and from the photographer, whose identity the publication has not revealed.
They are also seeking an injunction to prevent Closer from reselling the images of Catherine dressed only in bikini bottoms and of William rubbing sun cream on her behind.