Italian magazine Chi publishes topless Kate Middleton photos, royal couple reportedly in a ‘brighter mood’

An Italian magazine has gone ahead with plans announced this weekend to publish the topless photos of Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge, despite the royal palace’s decision to pursue legal action against the French magazine that first published them. The royal couple are still going ahead with their South Pacific tour as planned and are said to be in a “brighter mood,” knowing that their legal team is hard at work.

Chi magazine, a publication owned by former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, said on Saturday that it planned to run a full 26-page photo spread of the royal couple’s holiday in the south of France, including the topless photos, in their Monday issue.

The Associated Press reports that Chi published 14 topless photos, plus an additional one that Closer, the French magazine that sparked the controversy, did not publish.

St. James Palace has called the publication of the photos a “grotesque” invasion of privacy and are seeking to take legal action against Closer.

Chi editor Alfonso Signorini told the AP that when Closer published the photos, they entered the public domain, so he’s not worried about legal consequences.

Kate and William were in the Solomon Islands this weekend, as they continue their Diamond Jubilee tour of the region. The Telegraph reports that the couple are in “a much brighter mood,” now that they know their legal team is working hard to stop the spread of the photos.

One other magazine has published the photos. The Irish Daily Star published them and is now in danger of being shut down, reports The Daily Mail. Not only was the public outraged, but co-owner Richard Desmond, whose Northern & Shell owns the magazine, was reportedly furious at the editor made the decision to publish the photos.

“I am very angry at the decision to publish these photographs and am taking immediate steps to close down the joint venture,” Desmond said. “The decision to publish these pictures has no justification whatever and Northern & Shell condemns it in the strongest possible terms.”