Kate Middleon bikini photos are ‘harmless’ says editor

THE editor of the Italian magazine which published pictures of a bikini-clad Duchess of Cambridge defended his decision yesterday, saying they did not “harm” her image.

Alfonso Signorini said the reaction to the photographs which show William and Kate on holiday on the exclusive

Caribbean island of Mustique was “over the top”.

The pictures were published in Chi magazine and were trailed on the front cover as showing the growing belly of Kate who is around four months pregnant.

Earlier, presenter Eamonn Holmes was forced to make an on-air apology on This Morning after an unblurred image of the magazine’s front cover showing the duke and duchess in their swimwear “accidentally”

appeared on screen.

Mr Signorini said: “The photographs, which can in no way be considered scandalous, were bought from an international photo agency, do not harm the image of the protagonists and the reaction of the media seems to me wholly over the top.

“Moreover, the photographs can hardly be considered an invasion of privacy when the subjects are public figures in a public place, in the open air; specifically on a beach surrounded by other bathers.”

The pictures were condemned by St James’s Palace. A spokesman said: “This is a clear breach of the couple’s right to privacy.”