Photographer And Magazine Publisher Charged Over Topless Photos Of Kate Middleton

Two people have been charged and are facing a criminal trial over last year's topless photo "scandal" involving Britsh royal,  Kate Middleton.

A woman photographer, believed to be Valerie Suau, and the publisher of French magazine, Closer, have been placed under investigation, according to the Mail Online.

As OKMagazine.com previously reported, an outcry was caused last September after photos surfaced of the Duchess of Cambridge sunbathing topless on a family friend's terrace of their chateau in the South of France.

The royal family immediately went on the offensive after learning of the photos existence—claiming the paparazzi shots were highly intrusive, that the Duchess, and her husband, Prince William, should of been afforded full privacy and that the photographer could not have taken the photographs without breaking the law.

Attorneys for the couple threatened to sue any publication that ran the photos and vowed to bring the photographer who took them to justice.

Kate, 31, and William, 30, filed suit against Closer  shortly after the photos publication, with their attorney describing the Duchess as "a young woman, not an object."

The lawyer claimed the royal couple had suffered "a grotesque breach of privacy" and that they felt "violated" during a "highly intimate moment during a scene of married life."

Suau, who originally defended her pictures, calling them "all decent", has kept a low profile since the scandal erupted, but is believed to have been arrested earlier this month.

An attorney for Closer magazine, has argued that topless photos are no longer seen as "shocking" and has denied that the chateau where the royal couple was staying was legally inaccessible to public view.

Meanwhile, the Mail Online reports that Suau (whose name is pronounced 'sewer') told friends that there was no sign of British or French police at the time she took the shots, so allowing "any photographer who wanted" to take images.

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