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The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge depart from Kuala Lumpur Airport to travel to Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Arthur Edwards/The Sun/WPA-Rota/Press Association Images
Kate Middleton

Royals' criminal complaint over topless pics lodged today

The British royal family said their lawyers will lodge the criminal complaint in France today, as Prince William and Kate Middleton continue with their Jubilee tour.

BRITAIN’S PRINCE WILLIAM and wife Catherine headed to a secluded corner of the Solomon Islands today in a war canoe as their lawyers lodge a criminal complaint in France over topless photos of her.

The young couple were again greeted by huge crowds yesterday as they landed in the capital Honiara as part of their Jubilee tour.

A St James’s Palace spokeswoman said the pair will lodge a criminal complaint in France today over the taking and publication of images of a topless Middleton that appeared in the magazine Closer.

The spokeswoman said the couple want criminal charges brought against the photographer who took the photos as well as the magazine which ran them.

The palace also said it would seek an injunction at a court hearing in Paris today to prevent further publication of the pictures before taking civil action for damages.

The BBC reports that if an injunction is granted, the magazine Closer would be taken off the shelves immediately. However, this injunction would only apply to the magazine’s distribution in France.

Italy

Italian gossip magazine Chi is planning to devote 26 pages to the grainy paparazzi photographs in a special issue today – a move the palace said would heap “unjustifiable upset” on Catherine.

The Irish Daily Star, which is co-owned by Northern and Shell and Independent News Media, came under fire after publishing the topless photos at the weekend.

The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) said that the suggestion by Northern and Shell chief Richard Desmond that he was going to take immediate steps to close down the joint venture was a “callous and crude attempt by Northern and Shell to protect their UK commercial interests with no regard for the livelihood of Irish workers”.

A spokesperson for Independent News and Media told TheJournal.ie yesterday that the publication of the images was “regrettable and in poor taste”, and that INM had no prior knowledge of the intent to reproduce the images.

Michael O’Kane, the editor of the Irish Daily Star, said that he considered the images to be tasteful and said that the issue seemed to only cause fury in the UK.

Read: Irish Daily Star owner says he will ‘close down joint venture’>

Read: Irish Daily Star criticised by palace and UK owners for publishing topless Kate pics>

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