Kate Middleton Baby Bump Photos Published — Royal Family Is Not Pleased

An Italian gossip magazine published photos of a pregnant Kate Middleton while on a private holiday, and the Royal Family are not happy.

  • Share
  • Read Later
nf_kate_middleton_pregnant_photos_0213
Getty Images

Kate Middleton at the unveiling of her royal portrait in January.

The first photos of Kate Middleton’s bare baby bump have been published by the same Italian gossip magazine that printed pictures of the Duchess sunbathing topless in September, and according to Gawker, the royal family is irate.

Chi, the magazine owned by former Italian Primer Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s Mondadori group, published the paparazzi photos of a pregnant Kate Middleton sunbathing in a bikini while on a private holiday with Prince William in the Caribbean, the British newspaper the Guardian reported.

(MORE: Will and Kate’s Baby: Could Britain Change Its 300-Year-Old Succession Laws?)

A royal spokesperson said the publication of the photos was “a clear breach of the couple’s right to privacy,” according to the newspaper the New Zealand Herald. The St James’s Palace spokesperson added: “We are disappointed that photographs of the Duke and Duchess on a private holiday look likely to be published overseas,” the Guardian reported.

The images emerged over the weekend, and according to New York Magazine, the British tabloid Daily Mirror said they would not look at the images, let alone run them, out of respect for the royal family.  All of Britain’s news outlets also refused to publish them, noted New York Magazine.

Whether the royal family planned to take legal action, like they did following last year’s topless pictures of Kate, remains unclear, noted Gawker.

(MORE: Palace: Prince William and Kate’s Baby Due in July)

The Duchess of Cambridge, who is said to be due in July, is scheduled to make her second official public appearance since December’s pregnancy announcement on Feb. 19.  It was speculated that she would use her visit to a residential treatment center in London for recovering addicts as an opportunity to show off her burgeoning baby bump for the first time.