Closer editor charged over Kate Middleton topless pictures

The editor of French magazine Closer has been charged over the decision to publish topless photographs of the Duchess of Cambridge.

Laurence Pieau is accused of breaching French privacy laws after her magazine splashed pictures of the royal sunbathing topless across its pages in September.

A 28-year-old Paris agency photographer has also reportedly been charged, according to French news agency AFP.

In April, an unnamed photographer and the chief executive of Closer publishers Mondadori, Eesto Mauri, were charged with invasion of privacy

The controversial photos first appeared in Closer and were later picked up by Italian gossip magazine Chi.

The Irish Daily Star also published the pictures which later appeared in publications in Sweden and Denmark.

More than 200 photos of the duke and duchess, who had their first child this week, are thought to have been taken as they sunbathed on a private holiday in the south of France.

The couple launched legal action against the magazine, with a French judge ruling the topless pictures could neither be published again or sold on.

Photographer Valerie Suau admits taking images of Kate in the south of France but claims the images were ‘decent".

The paparazzo who took the topless photos has yet to be officially identified by police despite a criminal investigation being launched in October.