Reports that the Irish Daily Star is publishing topless photos of the Duchess of Cambridge have been condemned as motivated by "greed" by St James's Palace.
Despite the palace describing the publication of pictures of Catherine in French magazine Closer as a "grotesque and totally unjustifiable" invasion of privacy, it has now emerged that the paper was running the images in its Republic of Ireland edition.
A spokeswoman for the palace said: "There can be no motivation for this action other than greed."
Italian gossip magazine Chi is also understood to be planning a 26-page photo special of the Duke and Duchess sunbathing in the south of France, to run in an edition next week.
St James's Palace has already said the couple will sue the publishers of French Closer magazine, which is run by a different company from the British version of Closer magazine.
Earlier a spokeswoman said they were reviewing what further action might be taken against other publications that might publish the photos.
She said: "We will not be commenting on potential legal action concerning the alleged intended publication of the photos in Italy save to say that all proportionate responses will be kept under review. Any such publication would serve no purpose other than to cause further, entirely unjustifiable upset to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, who were enjoying time alone together in the privacy of a relative's home."
Both Chi and the French edition of Closer are published by the Mondadori media group, which is owned by former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi.
Chi magazine's editor Alfonso Signorini said: "The fact that these are the future rulers of England makes the article more interesting and topical. This is a deserving topic because it shows in a completely natural way the daily life of a very famous, young and modern couple in love."
St James's Palace said the royal couple would not let the controversy distract them as they continued their Diamond Jubilee tour of south east Asia and the South Pacific.
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