Describing the response to the pictures in Closer magazine as an ‘overreaction’, the French editor Laurence Pieau defended her decision to print, saying: “What we see is a young couple, who just got married, who are very much in love, who are splendid.
“She’s a real 21st century princess. It’s a young woman who is topless, the same as you can see on any beach in France or around the world."
Her retort on French television didn’t end there as she went on to say that you could easily see Kate and William from a nearby road.
“They were not being careless but they were not making any special effort to conceal themselves," she said.
Bauer media, the owner of the British Closer magazine, was quick to distance itself from the French title, which it licensed to the publisher Mandadori owned by former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. The UK group demanded that French Closer remove the pictures from the website immediately and confirmed that it was ‘reviewing the terms of the licence agreement with Closer France’.
Paul Keenan, CEO of Bauer Media told the Guardian: "Like our readers, we are appalled and regret the pain the publication of these photographs has caused. We deplore the publication of these intrusive and offensive pictures".
Other British publications were offered similar pictures of Kate and William during the private holiday on the remote French estate, which they are reported to have turned down.