Posted by Adam

Wednesday September 19, 2012

KATE Middleton and Prince William have the Queen‘s support.

Although the palace reacted with “anger and disbelief” over the publication of topless photos of the Duchess of Cambridge, sources tell People magazine that William’s father Prince Charles and grandmother Queen Elizabeth II “are most definitely supporting [Will and Kate] in everything that they are doing”.

On Monday, Kate and William won an injunction in France to stop further publication of the images, which were taken as Kate sunbathed topless at a château in the South of France.

William’s former press aide Colleen Harris revealed how the Prince will likely be feeling about the scandal.

“William will be absolutely fuming,” she said.

“If this were Fergie, [the Queen] would be livid,” Ken Wharfe, Princess Diana‘s former bodyguard told People, referring to Sarah Ferguson, who found herself in a bind over racy pictures 20 years ago.

“But this is top-drawer royalty: a favorite grandson and his beautiful wife. They live in another world.”

Mondadori France, French Closer magazine’s publishing company, will be fined €10,000 a day if they publish further topless paparazzi images of Catherine sunbathing or transmit them to a third party via email or any other means.

It was also decided that Mondadori — owned by former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi — will have to pay €2,000 towards legal fees.

A court in Nanterre, near Paris, opened a separate criminal investigation earlier today over the publication of the images in the magazine after a formal complaint was made on behalf of Catherine and William, who are currently in the final stages of an Asia Pacific tour.
The initial investigation will be carried out by BRDP, a branch of the French police.

The decision will allow a prosecutor to decide whether or not to proceed with a full investigation into whether Closer magazine and the photographer broke the couple’s right to privacy.

The ruling also means that Closer France must not print any more copies of its controversial issue and take the topless pictures off its website; the photos cannot be published in any other magazines or papers in France; the photographs cannot be sold by them to anyone else in the world; and that within 24 hours the offending pictures must be handed over to the Palace.

It is the first time that a member of the Royal Family has sued a publication through the courts in France.

Yesterday, Kate and William’s lawyer Mr Hammelle accused the magazine of intruding on a “highly intimate moment” by taking the topless pictures of Kate while she was on a private holiday at a chateau in Provence.

The lawyer compared the “grotesque invasion” to the relentless pursuit of Princess Diana by photographers.

Recent reports claimed William and Kate won’t have to pay for their lawyers.

According to RadarOnline, Harbottle & Lewis offer their services to the royals for free. This reportedly William and Kate will save up to a cool two million dollars in attorneys’ fees.

(SEE KATE MIDDLETON TOPLESS IN ITALIAN MAGAZINE CHI)

“The royal family has kept their legal team busy in the last few weeks, but lucky for them they don’t have to pay for their services,” a source revealed.

“Harbottle & Lewis provide the royals with legal guidance free of charge – simply because of the prestige they get from having them as their client.

“It’s held in high acclaim to be the legal firm that looks after the royal family’s best interests and has meant they have secured contracts with other high-profile clients because of that relationship.

“However, Harbottle & Lewis must be kicking themselves over that agreement. Fees for the Kate Middleton topless scandal could eventually rise to up to a million-and-a-half pounds.

“Add to that the cost of the damage control they provided for Prince Harry’s naked Las Vegas romp – they could have made an absolute killing.”

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Tags: kate middleton, prince william, queen elizabeth