After French magazine "Closer", the Dublin edition of "Daily Star" has published several photos of the Duchess of Cambridge sunbathing topless while she was holidaying in France.
The topless picture of Catherine appeared on the sixth and seventh page of the Irish daily's Saturday edition under the headline "Angry Kate to sue mag over snaps". Editor of the Daily, Mike O'Kane, said that he treated Kate Middleton as he would treat any other celebrity.
"The Duchess would be no different to any other celeb pics we would get in, for example Rihanna or Lady Gaga. She's not the future queen of Ireland so really the only place this is causing fury seems to be in the UK, and they are very very tasteful pictures," Entertainment Wise quoted Mike as saying.
Ireland's Independent News and Media and publisher Northern & Shell, which jointly own the tabloid, condemned the act and said they were not aware of the images before they were published.
Citing lack of editorial control over the tabloid, Northern & Shell said lawyers are being consulted over the tabloid's act which is believed to be a "serious breach" in contract," BBC news reported.
Publisher Richard Desmond, chairman of Northern & Shell, is now planning to cut ties with the paper after it printed the photos.
"I am very angry at the decision to publish these photographs and am taking immediate steps to close down the joint venture," Sky news quoted Desmond as saying.
"The decision to publish these pictures has no justification whatever and Northern and Shell condemns it in the strongest possible terms," he added.
The pictures didn't make it to the Northern Ireland edition of the Irish Daily Star. A palace spokesman cited "greed" as the main reason behind media groups' decision to publish the pictures.
The photos of Catherine sunbathing along with husband Prince Harry on the terrace of a private house in the south-eastern part of France first appeared on the front page of the latest issue French magazine "Closer".
The Duke and Duchess have launched legal action against "Closer". The Italian weekly gossip magazine, "Chi", too planned to publish the pictures of the Kate in their 26-page special issue on the Royals.
