The Kate Middleton topless photo scandal is spreading after it was published in an Irish tabloid on Saturday, while an Italian magazine is planning on doing the same.
The British royal family was devastated when the photos were publish by a French magazine, The Closer, but even after taking legal action against the magazine the problem is only escalating.
The Royal Family will have two more lawsuits to add to their plate, the Dublin-based Irish Daily Star and the Italian gossip magazine Chi.
The St. James Palace office condemned the publication of the photos as unjustifiable and said they’re considering “all proportionate responses.”
The British media has been respectfully omitting the topless Kate photos due to their ongoing concerns about media ethics which was sparked by revelations of illegal phone hacking and other unnecessary invasions of privacy by other media.
The Irish Daily Star has shown no concerns about privacy however, and have decided to publish the blurry photos over two inside pages this weekend.
Editor Mike O’Kane defended his magazine, however, saying they did take some extra precaution since it was after all the Duke and the Duchess they were talking about.
O’Kane told the BBC that the photos weren’t published in the edition distributed in Northern Ireland, which is a part of the United Kingdom.
Of course, that’s pretty much where the considerate thoughts ended.
“She’s not our future queen,” he told the BBC. “The duchess would be no different to any other celeb pics we would get in, for example Rihanna or Lady Gaga.”
The British company that co-owns the Irish Daily Star, Northern and Shell, is “profoundly dismayed” at the tabloids decision to release the photos, but also claimed there was nothing they could do about it.
Richard Desmond, Northern and Shell’s Chairman, is reportedly taking “immediate steps to close down the joint venture” with the tabloid.
The Italian gossip magazine hasn’t published the photos yet, but they plan on doing so Monday, although it is still unclear of what exactly will be the content of the 26-page spread.
The editor of Chi, Alfonso Signorini, said legal action isn’t going to intimidate him because his magazine didn’t publish the photos first.
“Closer’s position is different, they were the first ones to publish,” Signorini told The Associated Press and technically he’s right.
The publication of the photos by the Closer puts them in the public domain, making them available to any other publications, blogs, or even Facebook users who want to use the photos.
Meanwhile, the royal couple is just trying to avoid all the drama with the Kate Middleton photo scandal by enjoying their tour through Asia. Prince William joined Kate as they took an adventure through a rainforest in Sabah.
The couple did everything from hiking across a 984-foot long canopy bridge from being lifted up 130 feet above the ground by nothing but some rope and a harness to get a spectacular view of the rainforest.
“That was rather surreal wasn’t it,” the Duchess told the Daily Mail. “It was amazing, such a treat, really brilliant to be up there. I could have stayed up there for hours, even though there were a lot of ants.”
This time the Duchess traveled in a long sleeve shirt, long pants and hiking boots… the perfect outfit for a hike through the rainforest and to prevent any other photo scandals from popping up.
Prince William, Kate Middleton ignore topless photo scandal
