The Royal Family filed a criminal complaint Monday against the photographer who took topless photos of Kate Middleton as she was sunbathing with husband, Prince William, while sunbathing in the south of France, according to the UK Independent. If convicted, the still-anonymous paparazzi photographer and the editor of France's Closer magazine which first published the photos, could each face a year in jail including a hefty fine.
Later Monday, lawyers were heading to civil court to seek damages and an injunction barring additional publication of the images, CNN said. The royal couple are seeking compensation from both the magazine and the unnamed photographer for breaching French privacy law after the unauthorized release of the images, taken with a telephoto lens while the couple lounged by the pool at a French chateau.
Amid the topless photo scandal, the Duchess Catherine and Prince William continued their Diamond Jubilee tour of the South Pacific on Monday.
Chi Magazine, an Italian gossip magazine owned by former Premier Silvio Berlusconi published a 26-page spread of topless photos of Kate Middleton despite legal action in France against the French magazine, Closer, which was the first tabloid that published them. The Irish Daily Star also published the photos of Kate.
The grainy photos of the royal couple, most likely taken with a long lens, which show Kate Middleton sunbathing topless with Prince William on a balcony at a 19th century hunting lodge in southern France, in early September. In another picture, she bends over pulling down her bikini bottoms while Prince William touches her bare bottom.
Editor Mike O'Kane from the Irish Daily Star told the BBC the photos did not feature in the edition distributed in Northern Ireland, which is part of the United Kingdom. In response to the photos St James Palace has issued a strongly worded statement.
A French prosecutor would have to decide whether to pursue a breach of privacy or trespassing case against whoever is behind the photographs, the palace said.
According to a report by the BBC, there was no name listed in the criminal complaint Monday.
Watch a video of the editor of France's Closer magazine defending their decision to publish the topless photos of Kate Middleton:
