Sir John Major applauds restraint on topless Duchess pictures - Telegraph.co.uk

"It is the first airing and we will be seeking an injunction from them using the pictures and it will lead to a longer court case where damages will be sought."

In a sign of the couple’s growing anger, a St James’s Palace spokesman yesterday accused newspapers and magazines that have published the pictures of being motivated only by greed.

Former Prime Minister John Major, whose Government was dogged by tabloid exposés, backed the decision to take legal action over the pictures and likened the photographer's actions to those of a "peeping Tom".

"I think it's absolutely right, so that people in the future know where the boundaries should be," he told BBC1's Andrew Marr Show.

"The boundaries have plainly been crossed. I don't think we need minced words about these photographs - the way they have been obtained is tasteless. It's the action of a peeping Tom. In our country we prosecute peeping Toms.

"That is what they have done, they have been peeping on long lenses from a long way away. They are very distasteful."

He added: "I thoroughly applaud the fact they wont touch those pictures with a barge pole. It's a great pity media overseas have lower standards."

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge received a rapturous welcome from the people of the Solomon Islands today who came out in their tens of thousands to cheer their future King and Queen.

From an open-topped Toyota van decorated to look like a fearsome war vessel they waved and smiled back at the crowds who stood five deep in places in Honiara, the capital of the Commonwealth nation in the South Pacific.

"This is just so unexpected, it's such a privilege for the country, out of all the countries of the Pacific to have them come here is a privilege," said Barbara Daufanamae, 21, a student.

The royal couple arrived in the Solomon Islands, where the Queen is head of state, on a chartered plane and received a traditional greeting at the airport both welcoming and fierce.

^{Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge and Prince William, Duke of Cambridge pose in traditional Island clothing with the Governor General Frank Kabui and his family.}

After meeting the Governor General of the Solomon Islands Sir Frank Kabui, his wife Lady Grace Kabui and Prime Minister Gordon Darcy Lilo a garland of flowers was draped over William and Kate's heads.

The couple were then treated to a traditional Tukuwaka welcome ceremony by men from some of the Islands' nine provinces dressed in loin cloths and carrying sticks.

William stood on a dais for the national anthems of both his hosts and the UK before inspecting a guard of honour consisting of a platoon of the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force and prison officers. The nation has no standing army.

Waiting nearby was the van that had been transformed into a war canoe or Tomoko, during the past two weeks, and featured a bamboo frame, rush matting sides and floor and a roof made of sago palm leaves.

^{The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge prepare to sit for a meal at Government House}

Waves were painted on the side of the structure and at the front was a stylised face representing the spirit Nguzu Nguzu to ward off other spirits.

Henry Murray, director of mechanical engineer infrastructure at a government department, oversaw the unusual project and said: "This is an island nation we normally travel in canoes and we take important people in a war canoe. Years ago it would have been used to go head hunting or fighting in. Although we are in the modern world we want to hold on to our culture."

The procession ended at St Barnabas Cathedral where the royals attended a Diamond Jubilee thanksgiving service for the Queen.

^{The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge were given gifts of traditional clothing which the Royal couple wore to the state dinner}

Kate had a last-minute change of wardrobe when she ditched plans to wear to a banquet a dress she had brought from London and chose instead one that she had just been given by her Solomon Islands hosts.

She made the switch just half an hour before the state dinner when she walked into her room at the hotel in Honiara and discovered that the government had left her a strapless dress with a bright pink and orange batik design.

"She tried it on, she loved it and she is wearing it," said a royal aide.

The dress came from a shop called Island Print and was in contrast to her arrival outfit - a £820 turquoise and black geometric patterned dress by Jonathan Saunders and a bespoke cocktail hat by Jane Taylor.

In keeping with island tradition, the Duke wore a colourful shirt. His was also a gift from his hosts - but in contrast with his wife, he knew it was coming because the Solomon Islands had gone so far as to check his size in advance.

The Duke was clearly taken with his new blue shirt and during a formal visit on the Governor-General, Sir Frank Kabui, the Duke told him: "I have my shirt on. What do you think? Looks okay?"

The couple were also obviously struck by the warmth and enthusiasm of their welcome to Honiara. William told Sir Frank that there had been "a lot of energy, a lot of screaming... it was great".

The Duchess told the Governor-General's wife Lady Grace: "It was a beautiful service earlier. All the singing - it was lovely."

As a sign of what a good mood the couple were in, as they joined the diners at the island feast, they agreed to pose for pictures for the waiting British press photographers. "As you asked so nicely," said the Duke, "of course."

During the dinner the couple were entertained by musicians including a choir and the Haguelu Pan Pipers, who performed on a stage clad in grass skirts with white body paint and beads around their heads.

In his speech, the Duke tried his hand at pidgin English. "Mifala barava Tagio tumas," he said - "We thank you very, very much." His remarks complemented a large sign over a roundabout the couple would have seen when they arrived that stated - Welkam Prince William and your Princess.

Describing their visit as "a great thrill," he said: "This land is the most beautiful place imaginable and the people of the Solomon Islands are amongst the most gracious and friendly we have ever met.

"The Queen told us this would be so, and as with so much else in her long reign, Her Majesty was absolutely right.

"Catherine and I were overwhelmed with the warmth of the reception we received this afternoon. Our expectations were pretty high after what the Queen had told us, but nothing had prepared us for the welcome we received."

Richard Desmond, the British media mogul who owns the Express and Star newspapers and Channel 5, was dragged into the row last night after a title he co-owns in Ireland published the intimate images.

Mr Desmond’s Northern and Shell Group said it “abhorred” the decision to publish by the Irish Daily Star and was taking steps that could lead to the newspaper in Ireland being closed.

Lawyers acting for the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have already begun a civil action against a French magazine, Closer, and were last night set to launch another against the Italian publication, Chi.

Both titles are owned by Silvio Berlusconi, the former prime minister of Italy.

The editor of Chi said his magazine would publish a 26-page special edition tomorrow, containing dozens of photographs of the Duke and Duchess on the balcony of a chateau in Provence owned by Viscount Linley, the Prince’s cousin.

The publication of the photographs engulfed the Duke’s and Duchess’s Diamond Jubilee tour of South East Asia and the South Pacific. On Saturday the couple were lifted by rope into the treetops of the Borneo rainforest, smiling for the cameras and looking relaxed despite the furore around them.

A spokesman for St James’s Palace criticised media groups who have used or intend to use the pictures. “There can be no motivation for this action other than greed,” he said.

The series of pictures was taken by one or more paparazzi photographers who staked out the property from a spot about 700 yards away. The failure of the security team to protect the couple from intrusion was highlighted last night when another photographer told The Sunday Telegraph of the ease with which she had taken “decent” pictures of the couple from the same spot a few days earlier.

Valerie Suau, who works for La Provence regional newspaper, said she was astonished that the residence where they were holidaying had not been heavily guarded. She said she was “given free rein” to do what she liked without being stopped.

Yesterday, a royal aide said that the couple hoped a criminal investigation would also be launched by the French police, which they would be happy to support.

Under French law, breach of privacy is a criminal offence carrying a maximum fine of about £36,000 and a possible one-year jail sentence for Closer’s editor and for the photographer.

A royal aide said last night: “Their thinking speaks for itself in what the Duke has said about the extreme level of intrusion into their marriage and intimate life together. They felt that if they didn’t take this stance now after that, they never would.

“They were in an isolated house where the nearest public road was over a kilometre away, so they had every expectation of privacy.

“If you take it to the extreme in which this paparazzo took these photos, obviously it intrudes into their privacy in the most grotesque manner.”

The aide said the couple would look at every legal option open to them.

He added: “The couple will do whatever is in their power to seek redress and make sure the photos are never used again.

“The couple together took the decision to begin legal proceedings against Closer. The Prince of Wales and the Queen were informed of the decision.”

The Duke and Duchess have instructed Gerrard Tyrrell, senior partner at the London law firm Harbottle & Lewis, to act on their behalf.

Mr Tyrrell, who charges in the region of £750 an hour, has long acted for the couple as well as celebrities such as David Beckham.

After publication yesterday, Richard Desmond’s Northern & Shell distanced itself from the Irish Daily Star, a joint venture with the Irish media group Independent News & Media.

It said: “We abhor the decision of the Irish Daily Star to publish these intrusive pictures of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, which we, like St James’s Palace, believe to be a grotesque invasion of their privacy.

“The Irish Daily Star is a joint venture with Independent News & Media over which we have no editorial control. We were not given advance notice of the decision to publish these pictures by their management and we are consulting with our lawyers as a matter of urgency over what we believe to be a serious breach of their contract.”

However, Mike O’Kane, editor of the Irish Daily Star, which ran the photographs by copying pages of Closer’s French edition, said: “The Duchess would be no different to any other celeb pics we would get in, for example Rihanna or Lady Gaga.

“She’s not the future queen of Ireland, so really the only place this is causing fury seems to be in the UK, and they are very, very tasteful pictures.”

Alfonso Signorini, Chi magazine’s editor, said: “I am publishing them because this is a scoop. This is the first time that the future queen of England has been seen topless. These photos are not scandalous; they are natural and they do nothing bad to damage her image. If anything, they make her more likeable, more modern.”

A copy of Chi’s planned front cover, released by the magazine yesterday, shows a photograph of the Duchess sitting topless on the balcony of Chateau D’Autet in Provence, under the headline in Italian: “Scandal at the court: The Queen is naked.”

The picture is more revealing than the one used on the cover of Closer on Friday.

The couple’s legal team yesterday instructed Italian lawyers to investigate the possibility of preventing the publication of the photos by Chi.

Dr David Erdos, research fellow at Oxford University’s centre for socio-legal studies, said there was a strong case to injunct the magazine.

“Italy has a privacy law which covers journalism and is legally binding,” said Dr Erdos yesterday. He said that Italy’s laws had been used by Mr Berlusconi to prevent publication of photographs of topless women at one of his pool parties.

Chi is owned by Mr Berlusconi’s Mondadori publishing group and run by his daughter Marina, 46.

Penny Junor, the royal biographer, said the decision to sue would have been taken by the Duke, who she said was well versed in privacy laws and had closely followed a case brought by Princess Caroline of Monaco against the German media.

Charlotte Harris, a media lawyer with Mishcon de Reya, the firm that advised the Duke’s mother in her divorce, said the hard line was necessary to discourage future intrusion. She pointed out that the British press, which is self-regulated, had not published the pictures, while a magazine in France, where the right to privacy is enshrined in law, had chosen to do so.