Italian gossip magazine "Chi" has published the topless photo of Kate Middleton on the front page of their 26-page special issue on the Royals.

Chi is the third publication to print such photos of the Duchess of Cambridge. French magazine "Closer" was the first outlet that published topless Catherine's photos on the front page of its latest issue.

Three pictures of Kate sunbathing appeared on the front page of the Italian magazine under the headline "Court Scandal: The Queen is Naked!" despite legal action that was taken against the French magazine. The magazine hit the newsstands on Monday.

Earlier, the Italian magazine said that it will print 50 pictures of Kate and also claimed that it has more than 200 such photos of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

Both Closer and Chi magazines are owned by former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's Mondadori media group.

The editor of Chi, Alfonso Signorini, said that "even a direct call from the Queen herself could not stop him from publishing the photographs," according to Daily Mail.

He also said that he was not scared of any legal lawsuit from the Royals because there had been no invasion of privacy.              

"I am convinced by this scoop that Chi will be publishing on Monday because that is what we are talking about. These pictures are not offensive or in poor taste, they are not morbid and they do not damage the dignity of anyone," he told the New York Daily news.

"Instead the pictures that were published in Britain of Prince Harry were exactly that - if I didn't recognise the journalistic value of what I had then if I did not publish them I would be better off in a market selling artichokes. These pictures were taken while the couple was on a terrace and they were taken from a public place so there is no suggestion of an invasion of privacy."

Meanwhile, the lawyers for the Duke and Duchess are due in court in Nanterre, France, on Monday to ask for a ban against Mondadori group to stop the printing of the photos, which were also published in an Irish tabloid over the weekend, Associated Press reported.   

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