Swedish magazine publishes Duchess Kate's topless photos

Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge waves as she leaves Honiara International airport on the Diamond Jubilee tour on Sept. 18, 2012, in Honiara, Guadalcanal Island.

/ Getty

(CBS/AP) A Swedish celebrity magazine published topless photos of Britain's likely future queen Wednesday, and its sister publication in Denmark said it would do the same later this week.

The unauthorized photos already have been widely published in France, Italy, Ireland and on the Internet, despite efforts by Prince William and Kate Middleton to halt their use.

Pictures: William and Kate in Solomon Islands, Tuvalu
Pictures: Prince William and Kate in Malaysia
Pictures: Prince William and Kate in Singapore
Watch: Prince William and Kate dance with Tuvalu locals

The latest publication in Sweden's Se & Hor came as French police opened a criminal investigation into whether the photos - which first appeared in an edition of the French Closer magazine - were an invasion of privacy.

"It is nothing new to us to publish nude photos of celebrities on holiday," said Carina Lofkvist, the chief editor of the Swedish magazine.

She said actresses Demi Moore and Sharon Stone have done it and model Kate Moss had previously appeared half-naked in the magazine.

"No one complains when they do and we print the photos," Lofkvist said.

Sister publication Se & Hoer in Denmark will publish the pictures in a 16-page supplement Thursday, said chief editor Kim Henningsen. He said the magazine had been offered 240 pictures but decided  to use only 60 to 70 of them. He declined to say who sold them to the weekly or how much money they paid.

47 Photos

William and Kate in Solomon Islands, Tuvalu

CNN reports that a royal family spokesperson didn't comment on the Danish and Swedish magazines' move "save to say that all proportionate responses will be kept under review."

In France, a court ordered police to obtain information on Closer magazine employees after the British royal couple filed the criminal complaint Monday.

Marie-Christine Daubigney, assistant prosecutor for the Nanterre court, outside Paris, told The Associated Press on Wednesday that she had instructed police to get the names of some Closer employees, including the journalist who wrote the article.

She said she hadn't told police to identify the photographer who took the pictures because that will be part of a later investigation. The photographer trained a long lens on the royal couple as they sunbathed on a private estate in southern France.

45 Photos

Prince William and Kate in Malaysia

Daubigney denied as "completely untrue" French media reports that police raided Closer magazine headquarters Wednesday.

Prince William and Kate have spent the past week on a tour marking the diamond jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II. They visited Singapore, Malaysia, Solomon Islands and Tuvalu.

[brwing]

Pretty cheesey press around the world. It is time to limit the press and punish their rags. This is not journalism. Perhaps the police should start auditing the photographers and their publications un-mercilessly looking for whatever it takes to put them away. If they want to stalk then they should be investigated. Their families too.
That is the only way this stops.

[fredm6900]

She should never ever marry that guy. Now you see, she cannot go topless!

[mari1963]

Wish the palace would have cared this much for Diana.

Kate should have kept her clothes on. She's lovely, but she'll never compare to the beautiful Diana.

[nohater]

celebs should know better as should kate, harry, and so forth. if you are a notable, you should assume that someone is trying to take a photo of you in embarrassing situations. kate doesn't seem to have much to display in the topless area so that's probably all the more embarrassing. next time kate should wear a bikini but nothing less, it's just common sense. course maybe she was trying to be like harry and just expose herself.

[wolfmagic2012]

Who cares? Publish the pics. If this broad is stupid enough to go around with her top off, then the boobies are fair game. Unlike many, I don't have the slightest interest in the royal celebrities. They are an anachronism and the Royals should be declared regular people and disenfranchised from Royalty and should go out and find a real job. A waste of tabloid space.

[Farver4girls]

No sympathy for Kate. She gave up her privacy when she married Prince William. The Queen should have told her that if she didn't want topless photos taken of her to keep her blouse on.

[Jonseen]

At least they're making an effort to defend her. That's better than they did for Diana.

Shame on anybody who peeks at the pictures. If you want to start a program of self improvement, this is a good time to start. Show some self discipline. Our society doesn't teach this anymore. We're a bunch of redneck, scum sucking hooligans who enjoy a good laugh at other's torment and embarrassment.

But we don't HAVE to be this bad. Show what you're made of, even if God is the only one who knows: HE is the one who counts.

[wolfmagic2012]

Cuckoo for Cocoa-Puffs!

[vicargeneral]

I've seen the pics. and guess what? Kates nubs are nothing to go to court over...

[Jaylah54200]

I'm laughing my backside off over the Palace's "win" in court. Sure, they can force the photographer to turn over the photos, but they're already out there on the internet. All you have to do is Google "Kate topless."

So how does forcing the photographer to turn over the digital images still in his possession accomplish anything?

Two rules here:

1) If you are famous, do not take your top off outside (even if on "private property") if you do not want to run the risk of having photos taken of you topless.

2) Once things have been published on the internet (photos, personal information), you can't get them back. They're out there for good.

By making such a big deal over this, all the Palace has really done is draw FAR more attention to this than it ordinarily would have gotten.