William and Kate landed in London late last night, only to find that the row over the topless pictures of Kate which dogged their tour of the South Pacific had deepened while they were in the air, after a Swedish magazine published the pictures yesterday night and a Danish magazine did the same this morning.
This means the pictures have now been published physically in Italy, Sweden, France, Denmark and Ireland. They are widely available on the internet.
William and Kate’s intention in taking court action against the French magazine Closer on Monday was to scare other publications off from publishing the pictures of Kate sunbathing topless. That policy now lies in ruins.
Rumours are circulating that a mainstream American publisher may yet print the pictures.
"It is nothing new to us to publish nude photos of celebrities on holiday," Carina Lofkvist, the editor of the Swedish magazine, See and Hear, told BBC’s Newsnight program last night. “We have published pictures of many other celebrities much more nude. We don’t treat people any differently just because they are royal.”
The writer Andrew Morton, speaking on the same program, said that William’s actions in pursuing a court case against Closer had been counter-productive. “Charles has always said, ‘never explain never complain’, but William clearly sees things differently. He is prepared to go to court. That does seem to set a precedent. Is he going to be taking editors to court for the next 60 years?
“I think the reaction of William has been disproportionate. It has ratcheted up the ante. It is counter productive. This has gone from being a small magazine in France to a conflagration, a talking point.”The accusation that William’s somewhat hysterical reaction to the pictures has made matters worse – a royal statement issued on Friday said, "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” – were born out when the publisher of the Danish magazine, also called See and Hear and a sister publication to the Swedish one, said they were printing the ‘piquant’ pictures so people could see ‘what these photos are all about’.
Worryingly for the palace, the Danish magazine said that they had been offered 240 images, but were publishing ‘only’ 60 or 70, according to Channel 4 News. Previously just 20-odd images had been published in France and Italy by a media company owned by Silvio Berlusconi.
The Danish editor told the Daily Mail: “If the British royal family want to sue us, then it will happen then and we’ll deal with it … it is always relevant for us when a duchess and the future queen of England is topless and willingly reveals her breasts towards a public road.”
St James's Palace reiterated its position that, "proportionate responses were under review", however an insider previously told the Royalist that legal action was not being contemplated in Italy.
Instead, it appears that efforts are now being focused on pressing criminal charges against the photographer who took the pictures, after the offices of French magazine Closer were raided this morning by police seeking information which would enable them to identify the snapper responsible for taking the topless pictures of Kate.
The raid followed the formal launch of an investigation by prosecutors in Paris on Monday, when William and Kate also won an injunction banning further distribution or publication of the images in that territory.
Kate and William run the risk of appearing vindictive, however, if the weight of royal lawyers is thrown against a solitary photographer. So far, just one female photographer, Valerie Sueau, has admitted taking pictures of the chateau, but she has denied she is responsible for the topless pics.