The editor of an Italian gossip magazine that ran pictures of Prince William's wife sunbathing topless defended his decision on Monday, saying they were harmless and that the terrace where she was relaxing was visible from a street.
In an interview with Reuters, Alfonso Signorini, editor of Chi, also accused the British media of double standards for not publishing the photographs.
"It's a scoop and a big one ... I didn't have the slightest hesitation," Signorini said.
The royal couple has started legal action against French magazine Closer which first published a dozen shots of Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge - formerly Kate Middleton - as she slipped off her bikini top while on holiday at a French chateau.
William's office has called the photos a "grotesque and totally unjustified invasion of privacy".
Chi, which like Closer is controlled by former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's publishing company Mondadori , printed a 26-page special edition dedicated to the pictures on Monday after a weekend of publicity.
"The pictures are completely natural, they are not morbid and in no way harm the dignity or the morality of the people portrayed ... Plus, while the terrace was in a private residence, it overlooked a street from where anyone passing by with a good lens could have snapped them."
The pictures have rekindled memories in Britain of the media pursuit of William's mother, Princess Diana, who was killed in a car crash in Paris in 1997 while being chased by paparazzi. But Signorini said the comparison was misleading.
"Diana was really hounded by paparazzi. Here we have a couple travelling on diplomatic trips and on holiday, I don't think they are subjected to the same psychological pressure," he said.
REUTERS