Prince William 'Prepared for War' Over Kate Middleton's Topless Photo Scandal — and Demanded Legal Action 'All the Way'
Prince William went to legal war after topless photos of Kate Middleton were published.
March 2 2026, Published 1:34 p.m. ET
Prince William was prepared to go to "war" over topless photos secretly taken of his wife, Kate Middleton, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
The "utter violation" came after paparazzi with long lens cameras snapped pictures of the couple sunning themselves at a private estate in France in 2012.
Massive Invasion of Privacy
Paparazzi used long lens cameras to take the topless photos of Kate Middleton.
The pair had been attempting to recharge and relax ahead of a nine-day trip to Southeast Asia as part of Queen Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations, but things took a turn when the intrusive shutterbugs caught Kate wearing nothing but a tiny bikini bottom while she worked on her tan on a balcony at the 19th-century hunting lodge Château D’Autet outside Provence, France.
During the royal tour, the French magazine Closer had decided to publish the invasive topless photos, with one aide telling author Russell Myers in his new book, William & Catherine: The Intimate Inside Story, that "it was as if time stood still" for the royal couple.
An 'Utter Violation' of Privacy
Prince William and Kate Middleton kept up smiles on their 2012 tour of Malaysia despite the topless photos.
William felt the intrusive photos of his wife were an "utter violation" and called his father, then-Prince Charles, and his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, saying he was determined to release a statement and "sue the magazine."
The statement shamed Closer for its "gross breach of privacy," and aides said William was prepared to take legal action against the publication "all the way."
Myers noted it was the first time the future king "had personally engaged in taking legal action against the press," and said he was "determined to draw a line in the sand over the 'monstrous behavior.'"
Joyful Pregnancy News Knocks Topless Photos Out of the Headlines
Prince William and Kate Middleton posed outside King Edward VII Hospital after she was hospitalized with severe morning sickness
The Palace's legal team raced to file injunctions preventing any other publication from publishing the photos, but other European outlets followed Closer's lead. The Italian magazine Chi devoted a 26-page spread of photos showing William and Kate on their French vacation, including the topless pictures.
Meanwhile, the Irish version of the British Daily Star also published the privacy-violating snaps.
Aides said William and Kate felt "livid and 'violated" and planned to pursue full criminal proceedings, with the prince "ready to go to war with the press."
The pictures were never published in the U.K., and were quickly overshadowed internationally when it was revealed that Kate was pregnant with the couple's first child in December 2012.
The duo was unable to keep the early weeks of her pregnancy a secret, as the future queen needed to be hospitalized for hyperemesis gravidarum, an extreme form of morning sickness.
Topless Photos Legal Fallout
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A French court convicted six people in relation to the topless photos scandal.
In 2017, a French court convicted six defendants, three magazine executives and three photographers, of complicity and breach of privacy related to the topless photos.
Closer was fined 100,000 euros, while the publisher and editor were each fined 45,000 euros. Three shutterbugs were each fined a lesser amount. The six were also ordered to pay the royal couple's legal costs.
"The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are pleased that the court has found in their favour and the matter is now closed," a Kensington Palace spokesperson said at the time. "This incident was a serious breach of privacy, and Their Royal Highnesses felt it essential to pursue all legal remedies. They wished to make the point strongly that this kind of unjustified intrusion should not happen."
