Prince William’s Response to Kate Middleton’s Nude Photos Scandal
Prince William and Kate Middleton were extremely mad at the press in 2012 over a topless photo scandal. Now, new details about how the royal couple actually felt about the situation have emerged.
French publication Closer had taken photos of a topless Kate Middleton while the couple was sunning themselves at a private estate in France in 2012. Russell Myers wrote in his new book, William & Catherine: The Intimate Inside Story, that “it was as if time stood still” for the heir and his wife, per RadarOnline.
William had decided to take action immediately for the “utter violation” and called his father, then-Prince Charles, and his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II. The actions were swift with the Prince of Wales saying he was determined to release a statement and “sue the magazine.” Myers noted that William “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.’”
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William and Kate felt “livid and ‘violated” about the invasion of privacy, which caused them to go “ready to go to war with the press.” “Sources close to the prince suggest he felt a deep sense of personal responsibility over the issue, questioning whether he had offered too much of his life to the press, and whether the event would have happened if he had previously taken a stronger stance with the media,” the book said.
The publication was fined 100,000 euros by a Paris court after it ruled the magazine had breached William’s and Kate’s privacy.
“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.”
The photos were never published in the UK and was immediately overshadowed by the news of Kate Middleton’s pregnancy.