Following the decision by a French magazine to publish private holiday snaps of the Duchess of Cambridge, topless, while on holiday in France with her husband Prince William, speculation mounts as to what legal steps Buckingham Palace may take.

Christopher Mesnooh, a French legal expert, who is not connected to this case in any way, offered his opinion on French privacy law and what the impact, if any, of suing the magazine may be.

"I believe that the French courts -- if this is brought to their attention -- the French courts would condemn the magazine for invasion of private life and invasion of your right to protect your private and public image. The interesting thing under French law is the damages that are awarded. In these situations the damages are low: several thousand euros, perhaps 10 to 15,000 euros in extraordinary cases. So when you do an economic analysis of the number of issues that it's going to sell compared to the potential legal liability, it's certainly from a financial standpoint very interesting for the magazine to have published these photos."

And it is this breach of privacy that has angered and upset the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, Buckingham Palace and Downing Street. The Duke's father, the Prince of Wales, agrees with these sentiments and has released a statement saying: "The incident is reminiscent of the worst excesses of the press and paparazzi during the life of Diana, Princess of Wales, and all the more upsetting to the Duke and Duchess for being so." Their Royal Highnesses had every expectation of privacy in the remote house. It is unthinkable that anyone should take such photographs, let alone publish them."

At the moment, this situation is on-going.

Written and presented by Ann Salter.