The editor of the Italian magazine that 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 that show William and Kate on holiday on the exclusive Caribbean island of Mustique was “over the top”.
The pictures were published in the gossip magazine Chi and were trailed on the front cover as showing the growing belly of Kate, who is about four months pregnant.
On-air apology
Earlier yesterday in Britain, presenter Eamonn Holmes was forced to make an on-air apology on This Morning programme after an unblurred image of the magazine’s front cover showing the duke and duchess in their swimwear “accidentally” appeared on screen. Holmes told viewers: “Unfortunately we accidentally showed an unblurred image of the magazine cover, which briefly showed the photographs.
“This was a deeply regrettable error and we are very sorry. We apologise unreservedly to the duke and the duchess.”
Mr Signorini justified his decision to publish the pictures of Kate and William on holiday in a series of interviews. He told the BBC: “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.”
Decision defended
Meanwhile, the editor of an Australian magazine also defended her decision to print photographs of Kate in a bikini, saying her readers will “love” the images.
Woman’s Day is the second publication to use the pictures of the pregnant royal. It also controversially published pictures of William and Kate’s Seychelles honeymoon in 2011.
The Mustique pictures were reportedly taken from a boat using a long-lens camera, but Fiona Connolly, editor of Woman’s Day, claimed a member of the public snapped the duchess.
Speaking to Australia’s Channel Nine network ahead of publishing the pictures in Monday’s edition of the magazine, Ms Connolly said: “This is not a hard decision about these photos. Kate’s on a public beach, there are other holiday-makers there and she looks fabulous.”
– (PA)