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Kate Middleton’s Topless Photos: French Mag Editor Says Outrage Is “Disproportionate”

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Kate Middleton and Prince William depart Kuala Lumpur airport for Sabah Maylasia on September 14, 2012.

No "je suis desolee" from French tabloid Closer, which now faces potential legal action from the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge after it decided to publish topless photos of Kate Middleton on a recent private vacation.

The editor of the magazine, Laurence Pieau, told Agence France-Press on Friday that he doesn't regret the decision to publish the photos.

PHOTOS: Inside Prince William and Kate Middleton's first year of marriage

"These photos are not in the least shocking," he said. "They show a young woman sunbathing topless, like the millions of women you see on beaches."

The public outrage over the snapshots of a sunbathing William and Kate, 30, are "disproportionate," he argues. "It is a young couple that has just been married. They are in love. They are beautiful. She is the princess of the 21st century."

Shot with a long lens, the photos are "full of joy," Pieau says and "not degrading."

William and Kate, meanwhile, are forging ahead with their Diamond Jubilee tour of the Far East — with Kate looking especially serene Friday morning at a Mosque in Kuala Lumpur.

Related: PHOTOS: How Kate Middleton prepared for life as a royal

"St James' Palace confirms that legal proceedings for breach of privacy have been commenced today in France by The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge against the publishers of Closer Magazine France," a palace rep said Thursday.

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