England's Royal Family is up in arms over an unfortunate circumstance in which French gossip tabloid "Closer" featured on its most recent cover, photos of a topless Kate Middleton.
Middleton, also known as Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, was on vacation at a villa in Provence, France on September 5th with hubby Price William. The two were outside sunbathing when Middleton decided to take off her bikini top, in an apparent bid to avoid tan lines. At that moment a paparazzi snapped photos of the Duchess and a week later those photos showed up in newsstands across the country.
USA Today reports that St. James's Palace has confirmed the topless photos and issued the following Royal statement:
"Their Royal Highnesses have been hugely saddened to learn that a French publication and photographer have invaded their privacy...in an unjustifiable manner. The incident is reminiscent of the worst excesses of the press and paparazzi during the life of Diana, Princess of Wales...Their Royal Highnesses had every expectation of privacy in the remote house. It is unthinkable that anyone should take such photos, let alone publish them. Officials acting on behalf of Their Royal Highnesses are consulting with lawyers to consider what options may be available to the Duke and Duchess."
"Closer" editor Laurence Pieau dismissed the incident as harmless, responding "these photos are not in the least shocking. They show a young woman sunbathing topless, like millions of women you see on beaches," reports say.
The British Royal Family seem to wholeheartedly disagree with "Closer's" notion and as such, the Duke and Duchess filed a lawsuit on Friday against the magazine, citing breach of privacy.
This Royal scandal comes just weeks after pictures of Prince Harry, naked in a hotel room in Las Vegas went viral on the Internet. The story with the Harry incident didn't turn out as badly as anticipated, as it spawned a worldwide initiative in which the Prince's supporters snapped their own naked self-portraits and posted them to a Facebook page that was created for Harry called "Support Prince Harry With a Naked Solute." Men and women of all ages and ethnicities showed up to offer their online support and the page has garnered over 34,000 members.
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