'Bottomless' Kate photos spark new controversy

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EXPOSED AGAIN: 'Bottomless' Kate Middleton photos have been published, this time by a Danish magazine.

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A new controversy erupted last night surrounding the publication of intimate pictures of Prince William's wife, Catherine, showing her changing her bikini bottoms.

Three pictures of the Duchess of Cambridge taken from the front were published by the Danish celebrity magazine Se Og Hor (See and Hear) in a 16-page special.

The images, believed to be from the same set of topless pictures taken when the couple were holidaying at a chateau in the South of France, quickly appeared on the internet.

Kim Henningsen, the magazine's editor in chief was, according to the Daily Mail, unabashed by the threat of legal action and declined to say who sold the photographs or how much was paid for them.

He told the paper: ''It's a set of unique photos from an A-class celebrity. It is my job to publish them.''

On Friday a French judge said he would lead a probe into how the topless photos were obtained and would seek to identify the photographer, sources close to the inquiry say.

French prosecutors last week ordered a preliminary investigation into whether Closer magazine, which published the images on September 14, and the photographer had committed a criminal act.

In a second issue of privacy relating to the royal family, aides to Prince Harry announced they won't be making a formal complaint to Britain's newspaper watchdog about the Sun newspaper's publication of nude photos of him.

St James's Palace says a complaint to the Press Complaints Commission would be a distraction for Harry, who is on deployment in Afghanistan.

-Fairfax Australia