Kate Middleton Controversy: Photos From Ultrasound Visit Raise Privacy Concerns

Kate Middleton was seen in public for the first time in weeks, an appearance that has already sparked controversy on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean.

The Duchess of Cambridge was photographed leaving a London clinic late last night, with insiders believing that she and husband Prince William were visiting royal obstetrician Alan Farthing. Kate Middleton looked happy and healthy in the pictures, while William was seen holding an envelope believed to contain the first ultrasound images of baby No. 2.

But the photos themselves have created controversy. Newspapers in the UK opted not to publish the shots, which were viewed as a violation of Kate and William’s privacy.

The Daily Express’ royal reporter noted of the pictures, “Our head of news and news editor feel there is nothing more private than a woman going for a pregnancy scan, if that is what was happening.”

It is believed that other papers in the UK were offered to buy pictures of Kate Middleton on her way out of the ultrasound visit, but they joined the Daily Express in turning them down.

But in America, the New York Daily News did publish the pictures. The Daily News had a gallery of three photos that included Kate Middleton clutching her baby bump as she and William got into a car.

The palace has been aggressive in guarding Kate and William’s privacy, even sending a cease and desist letter to a photographer who was seen shooting Prince George in a public park last week. The couple and their young son, in line to become King of England, have also been closely guarded in their daily lives.

Privacy issues are of special concern to Kate Middleton, who in 2012 was photographed topless while on vacation with Prince William. At the time the royal family called the topless photos a “grotesque and totally unjustifiable” invasion of privacy, especially from the same country where William’s mother Princess Diana was killed in a car crash while fleeing paparazzi.