/ 20 September 2012

Danish magazine republishes topless Kate photos

Britain's Prince William and his wife Catherine
Britain's Prince William and his wife Catherine

Thursday's edition of Se og Hoer (See and Hear) included a supplement that featured 14 pages of photos of the British royal couple on a recent vacation in a private chateau in the south of France.

The former Kate Middleton appears topless in 14 of the 36 photos published. In one grainy picture she is pictured taking off her bikini bottoms while in another she puts them back on.

The photos, which first appeared in French magazine Closer last week, have sparked fury from the British royal family and revived a debate on press intruding into the private lives of celebrities.

The publication in Denmark came a day after the magazine's sister edition in Sweden ran the photos. Ireland's Daily Star and Italy's Chi have also published them.

The chief editor of the Danish magazine, which like its Swedish counterpart is owned by Danish-based Aller Media, said he was "incredibly proud" to have obtained the sole Danish rights to the snaps.

"Our readers love to follow the lives of the royals and they want scoops," Kim Henningsen said on the magazine's website, noting these were photographs "which the whole world is talking about but very few have actually seen".

The royal couple has obtained a civil injunction and sought criminal charges in Paris in a bid to curb the spread of the pictures, which emerged while Prince William, the second in line to the British throne, and his wife were on an Asia-Pacific tour.

French authorities on Tuesday banned Closer magazine from any further distribution of the pictures and began a criminal probe into how they were obtained.

The court also ordered the magazine to hand over the files with the images to the royal couple, which the publication did on Wednesday. – Sapa