`Greed` behind publication of Duchess Kate’s topless pics

London: The topless pictures of the Duchess of Cambridge, which were taken while she was on a holiday in France, are being published across Europe despite a threat by Prince William to bring legal action for the “extreme intrusion into their marriage”.

In a sign of the couple’s growing anger, a St James’s Palace spokesman accused newspapers and magazines that have published the pictures of being motivated only by greed. Richard Desmond, the British media mogul who owns the Express and Star newspapers and Channel 5, was dragged into the row after a title he co-owns in Ireland published the intimate images. Desmond’s Northern and Shell Group said it “abhorred” the decision to publish by the Irish Daily Star and was taking steps that could lead to the newspaper in Ireland being closed. Lawyers acting for the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have already begun a civil action against the French magazine, Closer, and are set to launch another against the Italian publication, Chi, the Telegraph reported. Both titles are owned by Silvio Berlusconi, the former prime minister of Italy. ANI