Kate Middleton topless pictures: Police raid French Closer magazine

Detectives arrived at the Mondadori building in Paris where Closer is based this morning at 10am in a raid police have said was made to confirm the identity of the photographer who took naked photographs of the Duchess.

Yesterday French judges ordered that Closer must hand over all images of Kate Middleton, the Duchess of Cambridge, taken without her knowledge by a paparazzi photographer with a long-range lens - something which the French court ruled was "particularly intrusive".

Media lawyer Christophe Bigot criticised the raid in France's Le Figaro, saying "A law of January 2, 2010 protects the confidentiality of sources, as do numerous decisions of the European Court of Human Rights. In the case of William and Kate, I do not see how a prosecutor could justify a search of Closer."

The court in France claimed that banning republication of the magazine was "beyond its powers" - although Closer is now banned from reusing the photos on its website or in future editions of the magazine.

However, the photos have now been widely distributed on the internet, published in Italy and Ireland, and soon to be available in print in a Danish magazine, it has been revealed.


Main images: Getty