Closer

A French court has ordered the publisher of Closer magazine to cease distribution of photographs of Kate Middleton topless. The paparazzi photos were taken while she and her husband, Prince William, were sunbathing at a private villa. The couple took legal action against the publisher, and are also seeking a criminal prosecution of the photographer.

The photos first appeared in Closer last Friday, and were reprinted by the Irish Daily Star newspaper the next day. Italian magazine Chi (which previously printed a photograph of a dying Princess Diana) published more of the images on Monday. The magazine Se & Hor, published in Sweden and Denmark, has announced that it will print the photographs this Friday.

Nude photographs of the royal family have been published before. Famously, UK tabloid The Sun printed a topless photo of Sarah Fergusson on its front page on 21st August 1992. In 2008, Mexico's Nueva magazine published photos of Prince William urinating. Full-frontal photos of Prince Charles (Bild, 7th September 1994; Paris Match, 15th September 1994; Playgirl, January 1997) have also been published.