Topless Kate Middleton Photos Lead To Charges Against Magazine Publisher


Three people responsible for publishing the topless Kate Middleton photos last year could soon face breach of privacy charges.

According to News.au, Ernesto Mauri, the chief executive of the Mondadori Group, which publishesCloser magazine, has been placed under formal investigation for “breach of privacy.” La Provence newspaper’s general director Marc Auburtin as well as his photographer Valerie Suau have also been placed under investigation.

La Provence, a regional daily paper, said that is being unfairly lumped in with Closer Magazine. The paper said in a statement today that it did not publish topless photos of Kate Middleton. The magazine did admit, however, to taking pictures of the Duchess in her bikini.

The paper said: “La Provence maintains that the photos it published (by Valerie Suau)… show Kate Middleton and her husband in bathing suits and are not topless on the terrace of the Château d’Autet… These photos are not indecent at all and do not invade the privacy of the prince and his wife.”

The photos published in Closer were definitely indecent. The photos show Kate and Prince William on holiday at a French beach. The magazine claimed to have more than 200 photos of Middleton in various states of undress and sunbathing topless on the beach.

The royal family, and most of Britain, was outraged when they learned that topless photos of the duchess would be made public. The photos were published by several international magazines but they originally appeared in Closer.

After the photos were published, St James’s Palace filed a complaint against the magazine. The complaint sparked a formal investigation into Closer and the paparazzi photographer responsible for taking the photos.

Today reports that French officials will now be able to interrogate Mauri, Suau, and Auburtin about the photos. French judges will then decide whether or not to call a trial. If there is not enough evidence the charged will be dropped.

Middleton and the royal family sued the magazine last year. The Duchess won the case andCloser was ordered to turn over all of the topless Kate Middleton photos to the royal family.

The judge wrote: “These snapshots which showed the intimacy of a couple, partially naked on the terrace of a private home, surrounded by a park several hundred meters from a public road, and being able to legitimately assume that they are protected from passers-by, are by nature particularly intrusive. (They) were thus subjected to this brutal display the moment the cover appeared.”

It was a big victory for the royal family but it didn’t deliver much of a punishment to the magazine. It could be a different story, however, now that charges have been brought against the magazine for publishing Kate Middleton’s topless photos.

Share this article: Topless Kate Middleton Photos Lead To Charges Against Magazine Publisher
More from Inquisitr