French court grants injunction over Duchess of Cambridge topless pics

A French court has granted an injunction against further publication and sale of pictures showing the Duchess of Cambridge sunbathing topless.

The Tribunal de Grande Instance in Nanterre, Paris, ordered France's Closer magazine to hand over all copies of the images it published last week and banned their resale.

The ruling only affects the French magazine and does not to extend to publications in Ireland and Italy which have also used the pictures.

It also prevents French Closer, which is run by a different company to the British version, from using the photos on its website and tablet application.

Italian publishing group Mondadori has argued the photos are not theirs to sell and said they are already "out there".

The scandal surrounding the pictures erupted on Friday when the magazine used 14 images of Kate and William enjoying private holiday moments at Chateau d'Autet, near Aix-en-Provence.

Their robust response to the pictures came after St James's Palace said in a statement that a red line had been crossed.

The court ruling comes after the Irish Daily Star announced on Monday that it has suspended its editor, Michael O'Kane, pending an investigation into the newspaper's decision to use the pictures

Jointly owned by Richard Desmond's Northern and Shell and INM, the Irish Daily Star's decision to run them on Saturday infuriated the media mogul. Desmond has said he wants it shut down, with insiders at his corporation warning "he says what he means, and means what he says".

Lawyers for William and Kate have also asked France's criminal prosecutors to consider charging the photographer who took the pictures.

Currently on a Diamond Jubilee tour of the Far East and South Pacific, the royal couple will on Tuesday travel to one of the smallest countries in the world, the island nation of Tuvalu.