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Two people have been placed under formal investigation for invasion of privacy over topless photos of the Duchess of Cambridge sunbathing on holiday in France being published in a French magazine.
The head of the publisher of the French edition of Closer magazine, Ernesto Mauri, and the photographer who took the pictures of Kate and Prince William sunbathing, have been placed under investigation, which, according to the Guardian, is the last move before being charged in France.
Photographer Valerie Suau took pictures of the Duchess in her swimwear, which were published in the local La Provence paper, but she denies taking any topless photos, reports the BBC.
Mr Mauri is the head of Mondadori, the Italian publisher of Closer, owned by the country's former Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi.
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The photos in question were printed in France in September 2012, but were not printed in British press in the light of the Leveson report.
They were, however, printed in other European publications.
St James' Palace launched a complaint after the photos were initially published, which lead to the criminal investigation announced on Wednesday.
The Duke and Duchess were on a visit to the Solomon Islands at the time the pics emerged, but launched separate criminal proceedings against the photographer under France's privacy laws as soon as they were published.
According to the BBC, a French court banned Closer from re-publishing the pictures and the magazine was ordered to hand over the originals within 24 hours, or face an £8000-a-day fine.
The Duke and Duchess' lawyer, Aurelien Hamelle, said the Duchess was "a young woman, not an object", and said the couple felt "violated" in a "highly intimate moment during a scene of married life", reports the Evening Standard.
Mr Hamelle also referred to Princess Diana's death in 1996, and said it was "just six days after the 15th anniversary of the cynical and morbid hunt that led to the death of William's mother".
The pictures were taken from a public road, from where the chateau's raised swimming pool is visible. But Mr Hamelle said a photographer would have needed to be using a long lens, even so.
The BBC reports that La Provence said Ms Suau had the paper's "support in the legal challenge she is facing today".
A spokesman for St James' Palace told the Evening Standard: "The ongoing legal process is a matter for the French authorities."
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