Six face trial in France over topless photos of Kate Middleton

Six people including photographers and senior media industry officials are to face trial in France under privacy laws over the publication of topless photos of Britain's Duchess of Cambridge in 2012, according to French media reports.

French national news agency AFP cited a judicial source, saying those covered by the case would include senior staff at French regional newspaper La Provence, Closer Magazine, and Closer's parent company - Silvio Berlusconi's Arnoldo Mondadori Editore publishing group.

The regional newspaper in southern France had published pictures of Kate Middleton in swimsuit in the headlines of its edition of September 7, 2012. A week later, photos of the Duchess of Cambridge topless were circulated in weekly magazine Closer. The Duchess seemed to be taking a sun bath on the balcony of a private property in southern France while on holiday in the southern Luberon region her husband Prince William.

The couple pressed for criminal charges in France to try to prevent wider publication of the pictures.

The direction of La Provence has denied that his photographer was responsible for taking the pictures.

AFP reported that the topless images were subsequently published in other European newspapers, including Chi in Italy, which it claimed is also owned by Mondadori, the Swedish celebrity magazine If och Hör and its Danish counterpart If og Hoer.

A procedural hearing is to take place in the first quarter 2017, before a trial to be held later in the year, AFP said.