A MAGAZINE editor has defended her decision to print photographs of the Duchess of Cambridge in a bikini on a private holiday.
And Fiona Connolly of Woman’s Day said her readers will “love” the imagines.
The Australian magazine is the second publication to use the pictures of the pregnant royal on holiday in the Caribbean, following Italian gossip mag Chi.
The photos, which have been condemned by St James’s Palace, are said to show Kate strolling on a beach on the island of Mustique with William.
They 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.
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.”
She made a distinction between the new pictures and those taken while Kate was topless on holiday in France last year as the latest ones were not taken at a private location.
A St James’s Palace spokesman said last night: “We are disappointed that photographs of the Duke and Duchess on a private holiday look likely to be published overseas.
“This is a clear breach of the couple’s right to privacy.”
The spokesman would not comment on whether William had been informed about the issue or if they were considering legal action against the magazine.
But Ms Connolly said: “Our readers are going to love these photos. I don’t expect any backlash at all really.”
Chi published the Mustique pictures today.
Kate, who is about four months pregnant, is on the magazine’s front cover in a blue bikini striding through the sea above the headline “the belly grows”.