Chi, an Italian gossip magazine owned by former PM Silvio Berlusconi, will publish topless photos of Princess Kate, wife of British Prince William. The cover was unveiled in Italian newspapers and TV with the teaser headline, “The Queen is Nude.”
Chi magazine, which has an estimated weekly circulation of 340,000, announced it plans to publish a 26-page spread on the photos on Monday.
Editor Alfonso Signorini of Chi claimed that the photos “don’t hurt Kate’s image,” and that he does not fear legal action will be taken against the magazine, he said in an interview with the AP.
Chi is part of Berlusconi’s publishing house Mondadori, which also owns the French magazine Closer, where the pictures first appeared on Friday.
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge responded to the publication with “anger and disbelief,” Royal officials said. They blasted the magazine, saying that “a red line has been crossed.”
William and Kate reportedly filed a joint lawsuit against Closer for breaching their right to privacy.
The telephoto snapshots of the Duchess were allegedly taken while Kate was sunbathing at a private swimming pool with her husband, during their vacation on France’s Mediterranean coast last week.
