Entertainment | Celebrity

Inside the Dutchess of Cambridge's topless scandal

How the Dutchess of Cambridge is handling the humiliation

By Gemma White, Editor, Scene magazine
Published: 15:06 September 18, 2012

Image Credit: Getty Images
The Duchess’ plight has drawn comparisons with Diana's.

Showing the world exactly what she’s made of when scandal hits, Kate Middleton put on her bravest face yet after topless pictures of her were published in a French magazine last week, with an Irish newspaper and an Italian magazine swiftly printing the shots too.

Taken at the lavish Chateau D’Autet in Provence, France, during a three-day getaway between the Olympics and the couple’s nine-day tour of South East Asia, the pics, which show Kate and Will relaxing within the 640-acre estate that is owned by the Queen’s nephew, Viscount Linley, saw Buckingham Palace release one of its strongest worded complaints ever, describing the invasion of privacy as “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.”

And as the pair continue on their tour as part of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations, the scandal couldn’t have come at a worse time, following on the heels of the leaking of Prince Harry’s naked Vegas pics.

Scene reveals how Kate is handling the situation as her family, friends and the Palace rally around her, and what it means for a Duchess who, up until this point, has been open and happy in the public eye…

William has ‘taken it harder’ than Kate

With William said to be more furious about the invasion of their privacy than Kate, royal-watchers say that the Prince fears the paparazzi could soon begin hounding the Duchess in the way he watched them do to his late mother.

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Insiders spilled that the furious Prince insisted, “I want them jailed,” with a spokesman for the Duke of Cambridge saying “They’ve always said they don’t have an issue with the mainstream media just doing their job, but they have always had an issue with paparazzi whose work intrudes on their privacy.” And although Buckingham Palace is said to be consulting with lawyers over bringing a case against French Closer magazine, insiders have spilled that it could mean putting Will and Kate on the stand in court – something they’d wish to avoid.

“In private Kate has told friends she is saddened and disappointed by the invasion of her privacy,” spilled a royal source. “But she’s also been the one to tell William to let the whole thing blow over. This is her first big scandal and she doesn’t have the baggage or history with the paparazzi that William has, which may work in her favour when it comes to persuading her husband and his aides to drop the case.”

For the full story, pick up this week's copy of Scene