If successful, the move could lead to the paparazzo and the editor of the magazine being jailed for up to a year and fined a maximum of £36,000.
Lawyers for the couple will tomorrow make a formal criminal complaint of breach of privacy and trespass at a court hearing near Paris, where they are also expected to be granted an interim civil injunction banning the French magazine Closer from printing any more pictures and ordering it to remove any images from its website.
It will then be for French prosecutors to decide whether to investigate and pursue the allegations.
A St James's Palace spokesman said: "We can confirm that a criminal complaint is to be made to the French Prosecution Department.
"The complaint concerns the taking of photographs of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge whilst on holiday and the publication of those photographs in breach of their privacy."
Meanwhile, William and Kate have appealed to foreign newspapers and magazines to show “common sense and decency” by refraining from publishing further topless photographs. » | Gordon Rayner in Honiara, Solomon Islands and Sam Marsden | Sunday, September 16, 2012
