Kate Middleton photo scandal of topless pics - Duchess of Cambridge and Prince William look happy and poised in Malaysia. Meanwhile, racy spread in French magazine Closer hits stands on Friday.
Kate Middleton isn't letting a little topless photo scandal ruin her tour though Southeast Asia.
The Duchess of Cambridge put on an elegant front during two stops in Malaysia on Friday, the day a French magazine spread showing her sunbathing without a top hit newsstands.
Buckingham Palace, on the other hand, wasn't letting the "grotesque" intrusion slide.
The royal family said it will sue the magazine, Closer, for breach of privacy, The Associated Press reported.
Closer's editor defended the photos, saying the couple’s poolside frolic was "visible from the street".
"These photos are not in the least shocking,” said Laurence Pieau told BBC. “They show a young woman sunbathing topless, like the millions of women you see on beaches.”
Meanwhile, Middleton -- half a world away on Friday -- looked lovely and demure in a blue lace dress while chatting and laughing with guests at an afternoon tea party in Kuala Lumpur hosted by Britain's high commissioner to Malaysia.
The Duchess and Prince William appeared unrattled by the burgeoning scandal, politely sipping tea while shmoozing with the assembled VIPs, including Malaysian-born shoe designer Jimmy Choo.
Choo said it was clear her highness didn't have clothes or shoes on her mind, as she appeared eager to discuss his foundation's work in children's education.
"She is an absolutely beautiful person both inside and out," Choo gushed to reporters later. "Very much like Prince’s William’s mother."
Earlier in the day, the couple visited the Assyakirin Mosque, the largest mosque in Malaysia, where the duchess donned a headscarf and removed her shoes, in keeping with religious custom.
It was the couple's first visit to a mosque, and Wills appeared wowed when told that as many as 12,000 people gathered there to worship on Fridays.
"'It's so peaceful in here," Middleton was overheard saying, according to British press reports.
The serene moment was a contrast to the uproar in London over a French magazine's decision to publish nude photos of the Duchess, taken during "a very hot holiday" in the Luberon region of Provence last week.
"Alone in the world or almost … because Closer was there!" Closer magazine wrote on its website, teasing the pics that hit newsstands on Friday.
"Discover the incredible pictures of the future Queen of England as you've never seen before … and as you'll never see again," the tabloid boasted.
Predictably, Buckingham Palace was furious.
The royal clan was particularly incensed that the pictures were taken in France, where William's mother, Princess Diana, died while fleeing paparazzi in 1997.
"Their Royal Highnesses had every expectation of privacy in the remote house. It is unthinkable that anyone should take such photographs, let alone publish them," a St. James's Palace official in London told The Associated Press.
"The incident is reminiscent of the worst excesses of the press and paparazzi during the life of Diana, Princess of Wales, and all the more upsetting to the Duke and Duchess for being so."
Prince William and Kate, whose tour through Asia marked Queen Elizabeth's Diamond Jubilee, were "saddened" by the pictures, which a royal aide slammed as a "grotesque and unjustifiable invasion of privacy."
The issue, boasting the headline "World Exclusive: Kate and William in Provence. Oh My God!" allegedly includes photos of Middleton and Prince William rubbing sunscreen on each other and taking a dip in a pool during a stay at the Chateau d'Autet, a secluded 19th century hunting lodge owned by the Queen's nephew, Lord Linley.
"And to avoid tan lines, Kate thought it all the way through … and took off her bathing suit," the magazine writes, accompanied with a photo that claims to show Middleton tugging on the strings of her bikini top.
The alleged photos come hot on the heels of another royal scandal.
A nude Prince Harry was caught frolicking with naked girls during a game of strip poker at a Las Vegas party late last month.
The queen was reportedly furious after photos of the prince's romp hit in the internet.
But while pictures from that incident were published in one British newspaper, the notorious U.K. tabs were likely to steer clear of the racy new pics.
"There's absolutely no chance whatsoever that they will be published in this county,” former News of the World executive editor Neil Wallis told BBC radio.
Royal watchers said the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge could make a strong case for an invasion of privacy claim.
"They are incredulous that any magazine would have felt they had a justification in publishing these pictures," royal correspondent Nicholas Witchell told BBC. "They could go to law or seek a remedy through the French court - that is a big step to take but that is clearly what is being considered now."
"I have rarely heard quite such a level of publicly expressed anger that I have heard today reflecting William's feelings," he said.
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/gossip/french-tabloid-claims-topless-photos-kate-middleton-article-1.1159155#ixzz26TJoWeVc
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