Kate Middleton
Kate Middleton’s Duchess of Cambridge puts a brave smile IBTimes

The British royals are suing Closer magazine after they published topless photos of Kate Middleton, according to reports.

"OH MY GOD!", the cover of 'Closer' states of the "world exclusive," on top of a montage of uncensored pictures, says the Huffington Post.

Middleton, the Duchess of Cambridge, was sun tanning with her husband, Prince William, apparently on their honeymoon in the South of France, when the pictures were snapped.

According to a statement released Friday by St. James's Palace, "legal proceedings for breach of privacy have been commenced today in France" by the royal couple, TMZ reports.

The managing editor of Closer weekly magazine, Laurence Pieau, has defended her decision to publish topless photos of Middleton.

"I'm surprised by the pandemonium provoked by the publication of these photographs in London where the British press has issued insults and threats towards me," she said.

NBC affiliate station WPTV-TV said that a St. James's Palace spokesman said Kate Middleton and Prince William were "hugely saddened to learn that a French publication and a photographer have invaded their privacy in such a grotesque and totally unjustifiable manner.

"The incident is 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."

Since the photos surfaced, Kate Middleton has put on a brave face, attending a Diamond Jubilee tea party at the British High Commission in Kuala Lumpur Friday afternoon.